Previously termed ‘Malta Fever’, in that country and around the Mediterranean and undulant fever elsewhere it is caused by the bacterium Brucella melitensis, present in goat's milk. In Great Britain, the US and South Africa, cow's milk may carry another causative organism Brucella abortus, the organism responsible for contagious abortion in cattle. Brucellosis has been eradicated from farm animals in the United Kingdom, where brucellosis is one of the OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES and is now prescribed as an industrial disease. The incidence of brucellosis in the UK has fallen from more than 300 cases a year in 1970 to single figures.
The characteristic features of the disease are undulating fever, drenching sweats, pains in the joints and back, and headache. The liver and spleen may be enlarged. The diagnosis is confirmed by the finding of Br. abortus, or antibodies to it, in the blood. Recovery and convalescence tend to be slow.
The condition responds well to one of the tetracycline antibiotics, and also to gentamicin and co-trimoxazole, but relapse is common. In chronic cases a combination of streptomycin and one of the tetracyclines is often more effective.
It can be prevented by eradicating the disease from farm animals (as in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and the UK for example)or by boiling or pasteurising all milk used for human consumption.