Brucellosis is a zoonotic infectious-allergic disease transmitted from sick, mainly farm animals, to humans.
The causative agent of the infection is Brucella. The main sources of infection for humans are sheep, goats, cattle and pigs. Routes of human infection:
contact route - in contact with a sick animal or raw materials and products of animal origin;
nutritional route - when consuming dairy products and meat obtained from animals with brucellosis and not undergone sufficient heat treatment;
aerosol route - when inhaling an air-dust mixture containing fragments of wool, manure, soil, and litter contaminated with Brucella.
The causative agent of brucellosis is highly resistant to low temperatures and persists for a long time in food products, including those stored in refrigerators and freezers. In frozen infected meat and dairy products it remains viable throughout the entire storage period.
The incubation period of the disease in humans ranges from 1 week to 2 months. The onset of the disease is usually accompanied by a rise in temperature to 39-40°C (temperature rises in the evening and night hours are typical). Symptoms of brucellosis are similar to those of the flu: fever, back pain, body aches, poor appetite, weight loss, weakness, headache, night sweats, cough, abdominal pain.
Complications of brucellosis: endocarditis, damage to the central nervous system (meningitis, encephalitis), liver abscess, inflammation of the spleen, arthritis, chronic fatigue, periodic fever.
To prevent brucellosis, the following recommendations must be followed:
Persons who keep livestock in private farmsteads:
- follow the recommendations of the veterinary service for keeping livestock;
- inform the veterinary service about all cases of disease in animals with suspected brucellosis (abortions, birth of non-viable young animals).
Population:
- do not purchase meat and meat products (minced meat, sausage, semi-finished products), milk and dairy products in places of unspecified trade;
- consume only after careful heat treatment milk, dairy products and products of animal origin purchased from private individuals.
Following these recommendations will help prevent infection with brucellosis!