Brucelose bovina: revisão

Abstract

Brucellosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by bacterium of the genus Brucella, which affects humans and different species of animals. In cattle, this disease is caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus that compromises especially the reproductive system, characterized mainly by the occurrence of abortions in the last third of gestation. Despite the implementation of programs aimed at the disease controlling and eradicating, brucelosis is endemic in many countries, especially in developing ones, resulting in significant economic losses and serious implications for animal and public health, due to its zoonotic character. The disease can be transmitted by direct or indirect contact with infected animals, fetal membranes, and also transmitted to humans by contaminated animal products, especially milk and dairy products that have not undergone thermal processing, by raw meat and the handling of carcasses and visceras at the slaughterhouse. Programs for control and eradication of a disease are mainly structured in interrupting the chain of transmission of the agent through the elimination of infected individuals and the increasing number of resistant individuals in the population, with vaccination a powerful control strategy.