Brucellosis; Transmission, Symptoms, and Treatment

Brucellosis is another zoonotic disease that affects the human reproductive system. It is a disease that transfers from animals to humans by ingesting infected food, water, or direct contact of body wounds or open skin to the bacteria. People who get in contact with infected animals usually contract this disease. Unfortunately, the disease can result in horrible effects on the human body, like inducing abortions and causing sterility in both males and females.

Brucellosis is often referred to as Bang’s disease. It is a disease that causes infectious abortion or contagious abortion. It affects cattle, pigs, buffaloes, horses, deers, feral animals, and humans. The spread of Brucellosis most importantly occurs from milk contaminated products. Unfortunately, it is again one of the neglected tropical diseases. Nevertheless, the healthcare experts are trying to bring the disease under consideration to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible.

Life cycle of brucellosis

When a person acquires infection, the Brucella first invades into the host’s cells to gain entry into the portal system. From here, the bacteria forms vacuoles called Brucella Containing Vacuoles (BCV). These vacuoles fuse with the cellular lysosomes in a very controlled fashion. This is a very crucial step in the life cycle of Brucella because 90% of the bacteria is destroyed here, and only 10% remains alive for pathogenic action.

To establish a site for settling and then replication, the bacteria reach the endoplasmic reticulum. After replicating multiple ER copies, Brucella finally forms autophagy-like vacuoles and survives within the same compartments or cells. A biological marker called T4SS is the main reason behind these steps of the Brucellosis life cycle. This includes interacting with the secretory pathways, gaining markers to form autophagosomes, resisting the external harsh environmental factors, and activating the immune system pathway.

Written by Martin Davis