BRUCELLOSIS is a bacterial illness that not only affects dogs, but many other farm animals as well - cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and even humans. It is usually farm dogs that contract the disease through contact with an infected aborted animal foetus, by eating contaminated meat, or by drinking contaminated raw milk. The bacteria is also present in the faeces of infected dogs and can easily be passed on in a kennel by contact with faeces or other bodily fluids of the infected dogs, especially during mating.
Symptoms of an infected dog may include abortion of pups, infection or infertility, arthritis, fever, weakness in the back legs, lack of energy or swelling of the glands. If you suspect that your dog may have been in contact with an infected dog or on a farm with infected animals, and any of the above symptoms makes an appearance, then take the dog to the vet for a blood test.
Antibiotics treatment will be necessary if the dog comes up positive for the disease and it may take a long time to completely kill the bacteria. Your dog will need to have blood tests at various intervals during the treatment and you must also remember that it is possible for humans to catch canine brucellosis, though it is quite uncommon.
As it is a sexually transmitted disease breeders must make sure all of the dogs in their breeding kennels are clear before they are mated. Any infected dog should not be bred - it may not show any sign of being sick or uncomfortable, but it can still pass on the disease in bodily fluids. Any new animal brought into the kennel should be kept away from the rest of the dogs until it tests negative twice, the tests to be one month apart.
There is no vaccine available for canine brucellosis yet, so taking any positive animals away from your breeding stock is one way to help control the disease. Wear gloves to handle or dispose of any waste or aborted matter, and thoroughly disinfect the area.
Brucella canis was first recognised in the mid-1960s and is a relatively common illness in pregnant bitches, thought to infect about 8-10 percent of breeding stock in the USA, in spite of the large amount of publicity it receives. It is also a significant public health issue because it is transmissible to humans, especially breeders handling aborted foetuses. Infected humans may develop liver disease or arthritis.
Once a dog has had brucellosis and is cured, it should not be used for breeding again and should be spayed or neutered. A complete cure is unlikely as the bacteria can live in a dog for years after it is infected and there is always a possibility that the bacteria remain in the cells or that the dog will become a 'carrier' and pass on the disease if mated. The safest action for any breeder after a dog has been diagnosed and treated is to remove it from the breeding stock and regard it as a pet only from that point onwards.
Testing for brucellosis requires a blood test by your veterinarian. Any dogs that return positive results should be retested for confirmation as brucellosis can also return false positives (or negatives) occasionally. As it is spread largely by breeding, it is essential to test all canines, male or female, before breeding. No use finding out later after your stock has been infected that the stud had brucellosis, or that your bitch had passed the disease to a visiting stud dog who went on to infect many other bitches before the disease was diagnosed. 'Cured' dogs can begin to shed the bacteria from their cells months, or even years after they are treated.
Over-all, the infection rate of about 10 percent of dogs in the USA is quite a high incidence and is not to be trivialised. If you want to keep your dogs safe there is only one way as there is no vaccination for the disease as yet - be very careful about any new dogs introduced to your stock and make sure they are tested. Better to be sure than sorry. - EP
