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Causes and modes of transmission
It is important to know which animals can play a role in the transmission of Brucella before we come to know the causes. The animals, including goats and sheep (cattle), dogs, horses, buffaloes, and pigs, are the source of transmission. The intake of Brucella species takes place in either of the three major ways.
- Ingestion
- Inhalation
- Open wounds
- Sharing Intradermal needles
- Conjunctival contact (Eye splash)
The open wounds simply give a site of entry to the bacterial species. There are fewer physical and chemical barriers in the way, which makes the entry of Brucella easier. Inhalation takes place in the atmosphere where Brucella species are available abundantly. Staying and living in the vicinity of infected cattle, other infected animals (both pet and domestic), and already infected humans, are the modes of transmission by inhalation because technically, both are breathing in the same air.
The last mode of transmission is ingestion. The foods and vegetables consumed can easily be infected by Brucellosis if they are not washed or cooked properly. Therefore, clean management of food and milk-containing products is very important to destroy transmission mode. Improperly pasteurized milk or raw milk can contain bacterial contaminants of Brucella. The same is the cake with raw meat and cheese, so food should be handled very carefully before it is consumed.
Farmers and hunters are more at risk of developing Brucellosis because of their daily direct contact with the animals and possibly bacterial spores. There are almost six species of Brucella discovered so far, but the infectious ones are only four, which are mentioned above.
