Brucellosis
What Is Brucellosis disease?
This is a disease that comes from drinking fresh milk from infected cows or goats, It may also enter the body through scrapes or wounds in the skin of persons who work with sick cattle, goats, or pigs, or by breathing it into the lungs.
Brucellosis is a zoonotic infection caused by the bacterial genus Brucella. The bacteria are transmitted from animals to humans by ingestion through infected food products, direct contact with an infected animal, or inhalation of aerosols. The disease is an old one that has been known by various names, including Mediterranean fever, Malta fever, gastric remittent fever, and undulant fever.
Causes of Brucellosis
The bacteria may be spread from animals to people in three main ways:
Raw dairy products: Brucella bacteria in the milk of infected animals can spread to humans in unpasteurized milk, ice cream, butter and cheeses. The bacteria can also be transmitted in raw or undercooked meat from infected animals.
It can be contacted via the air. Brucella bacteria spread easily in the air. Farmers, laboratory technicians and slaughterhouse workers can inhale the bacteria.
Direct contact: Bacteria in the blood, semen or placenta of an infected animal can enter your bloodstream through a cut or other wound. Because normal contact with animals — touching, brushing or playing — doesnt cause infection, people rarely get brucellosis from their pets. Even so, people with weakened immune systems should avoid handling dogs known to have the disease.
Symptoms/Signs of Brucellosis
Symptoms of Brucellosis are similar to those of the flu, they are:
- Cough
- Fever
- Chills
- Fatigue
- Joint, muscle and back pain
- Poor appetite and weight loss
- Headache
- Sweats
- Weakness
Chronic Brucellosis symptoms
- Fatigue
- Fevers
- Arthritis and spondylitis — an inflammatory arthritis that affects the spine and adjacent joints.
Your doctor will examine you. You may have:
A swollen liver
Swollen lymph nodes
A swollen spleen
Your doctor will do small test inclde isolation of Brucella spp in blood, bone marrow, or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and other body fluids or tissue samples
Blood tests will be done to diagnose the infection and determine what type of Brucella is making you sick. Proper identification of the bacteria helps pinpoint the source of the infection.
How does Brucellosis Spread?
- By consuming unpasteurised milk or milk products (such as soft cheeses) from infected animals, or very rarely, by eating raw meat from these animals
- By inhaling it in dust on farms with infected animals or in abattoirs
- Through contact with cultures in medical or veterinary laboratories
- Through direct contact with infected animals or surfaces – for example, a farmworker may become infected if the bacteria get into broken skin or their eyes
It is very rare to contact it through person-to-person, although there have been cases of transmission from mother to baby through breastfeeding, and through sexual contact.
People at highest risk:
Laboratory workers
Veterinarians
Farmers
Abattoir workers. How to Prevent Brucellosis
- Avoid eating or drinking unpasteurized milk, cheese, or ice cream (including queso fresco). Check the label to make sure it says "pasteurized" and dont eat it if you arent sure.
- Do not handle sick or dead animal bodies. But if you must, then use gloves plus face and eye protection.
- Cook meat thoroughly.
- It is always a good idea to wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Cooperate with livestock inspectors who check to be sure your animals are healthy.
Treatment for Brucellosis
If you suspect brucellosis, get medical advice, because it is easy to confuse this disease with others, and the treatment is long and expensive.
Treat with tetracycline, adults: two 250 mg. capsules 4 times a day for 3weeks.
Doctors can prescribe other antibiotics; usually combination antibiotics are used for at least several weeks to treat the infection and prevent it from coming back. It may take up to several months for someone to recover, even with treatment.
Brucellosis Home Remedies/Home Cure
Food as natural treatment for brucellosis: You should eat foods which can restore the natural balance in your body because in this way you can find an effective natural remedy for your disease. You should not eat foods which are causing expansion such as Vitamin C, sugar, lettuce and parsley because those kinds of foods will make this disease to get worse. This is possible because the brucellosis is expansive disease or infectious disease which means those expansive foods are just worsening the situation. You should use foods which are causing contraction because those kinds of foods will help you to cure of the brucellosis and also they will restore your immunity. If you are using the right diet, then your disease will be cured completely. You just be sure about your natural treatment. Talk with your doctor about his or her recommendations for the right diet. If you have used macrobiotic guidelines and also you have chosen some vegetables and other kinds of foods and they did not have worked for you, then those kinds of foods are not effective and right for your condition. If you have felt some symptoms of the brucellosis, then you must talk with your doctor for proper examination and treatment.
Garlic: This vegetable is one of the most used natural cures for many kinds of diseases and also it is much recommended as natural remedy for brucellosis. It is one of the best anti-bacterial remedies which have been used in the natural medicine for decades. There is one recipe from this vegetable which is recommended to be used in the natural treatment of brucellosis. In ½ small cups of water you should boil one clove garlic. This is garlic tea. You should take this tea several times per day until you feel better and your symptoms are gone. After you have done this treatment, you should continue your treatment with garlic soup. You should consume this soup one to two times per week. Also you can add raw garlic in your treatment. If you have decided to add raw garlic in your diet, then you should use garlic three times per day.
Complications of Brucellosis
- Osteoporosis and bone cyst.
- Infection of the hearts inner lining (endocarditis).
- Arthritis. Joint infection is marked by pain, stiffness and swelling in your joints, especially the knees, hips, ankles, wrists and spine.
- Spondylitis — inflammation of the joints between the bones (vertebrae) of your spine or between your spine and pelvis — can be particularly hard to treat and may cause lasting damage.
- Inflammation and infection of the testicles (epididymo-orchitis).
- Inflammation and infection of the spleen and liver.
- Central nervous system infections.
- Inflammation of the brain itself
