Christopher Supriya, Umapathy B L, Ravikumar K L
Department of Microbiology, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, BSK II Stage, Bangalore, India.
J Lab Physicians. 2010 Jul;2(2):55-60. doi: 10.4103/0974-2727.72149.
Brucellosis is a zoonotic infection transmitted from animals to humans by the ingestion of infected food products, direct contact with an infected animal or inhalation of aerosols. The last method is remarkably efficient given the relatively low concentration of organisms (10 - 100 bacteria) needed to establish infection in humans, and has brought renewed attention to this old disease. Brucella is a facultative intracellular pathogen that has the ability to survive and multiply in the phagocytes and cause abortion in cattle and undulant fever in humans. Brucella spp particularly B. melitensis, B. abortus, and B. suis represent a significant public health concern. At present, B. melitensis is the principle cause of human brucellosis in India. Molecular studies have demonstrated the phylogenetic affiliation of Brucella to Agrobacterium, Ochrobactrum, and Rhizobium. Human brucellosis still presents scientists and clinicians with several challenges, with regard to the understanding of its pathogenic mechanism, severity, progression, and development of improved treatment regimens. Molecular studies have now highlighted the pathogenesis of Brucella, for the development of newer diagnostic tools that will be useful in developing countries where brucellosis is a common, but often a neglected disease. This review compiles all these issues in general and the pathogenicity and newer diagnostic tools in particular.
布鲁氏菌病是一种人畜共患感染病，可通过摄入受感染的食品、直接接触受感染动物或吸入气溶胶从动物传播给人类。鉴于在人类中引发感染所需的生物体浓度相对较低（10 - 100个细菌），最后一种传播方式的效率非常高，这也使得人们重新关注起这种古老的疾病。布鲁氏菌是一种兼性细胞内病原体，能够在吞噬细胞中存活和繁殖，可导致牛流产和人类波浪热。布鲁氏菌属，特别是羊种布鲁氏菌、牛种布鲁氏菌和猪种布鲁氏菌，是重大的公共卫生问题。目前，羊种布鲁氏菌是印度人类布鲁氏菌病的主要病因。分子研究已证明布鲁氏菌与土壤杆菌属、慢生根瘤菌属和根瘤菌属在系统发育上具有亲缘关系。在了解人类布鲁氏菌病的致病机制、严重程度、病情进展以及开发改进的治疗方案方面，它仍然给科学家和临床医生带来了诸多挑战。分子研究现已突出了布鲁氏菌的发病机制，有助于开发更新的诊断工具，这对于布鲁氏菌病常见但往往被忽视的发展中国家很有用。本综述总体上汇集了所有这些问题，尤其关注了致病性和更新的诊断工具。
