|
Please bear with me while I
attempt to consolidate all of the information I have gathered on
this disease into some type of understandable format for those of
you who are interested in combating its spread, or just educating
yourself.
What Is
Canine Brucellosis
How is Canine
Brucellosis Transmitted
What are the
signs of Canine Brucellosis
Can my dog be
cured
How can I
protect my dogs
Can I get
Brucellosis from my dog
How do I
eradicate brucellosis once my kennel is
infected
What Is Canine
Brucellosis
Canine brucellosis is an
infections disease caused by the Brucella bacteria. The
illness in dogs is caused by Brucella canis (B. canis). The
Brucella organism is a unique type of bacgteria that prefers to live
and replicate inside of cells. It also has a special affinity
for a chemical only made by cells of the reproductive tract.
Thus, Brucellosis affects the reproductive tract of the dog and
bitch.
How is Canine Brucellosis
Transmitted
It has long been thought, and is
still the common perception that Brucellosis is only a sexually
transmitted disease. THIS INFORMATION IS INCORRECT.
Canine Brucellosis is most often transmitted through sexual contact
or nose or mouth contact with the vaginal discharge of an
infected female while in heat, abortion or whelping.
However, it can also be transmitted through contact
with the urine, saliva, nasal and ocular secretions and feces
of an infected animal. Bitches can transfer the disease to any
live offspring. My dogs in particular are a perfect
example of non-sexual transmission. My male was infected by a
dog at a dog show (probably through nasal/vaginal contact) with no
sexual contact, and our beloved Jersey was already spayed when she
contracted it through being kenneled with Luke. This is the
reason we, as breeders and dog owners, must lobby for required
testing for all dogs being admitted to a show grounds, those in
shelters, and annual tests for all dogs that are still
complete. In order to eradicate this disease, we must test,
and destroy, all animals that carry it.
What are the signs of Canine
Brucellosis
Unfortunately, there are very few
overt signs of this disease in the early stages. You might
notice the hair coat being lackluster, lethargy, soreness in the
back/spine, and in males they might have a green discharge in the
scrotum and surrounding hair. Unfortunately these are also
common signs of a dog that is just a hard keeper. Once the
disease is in its active stage females will often abort a litter
between 45 and 59 days, or the litter will be weak and many pups
will not survive. There will be prolonged vaginal discharge
following the abortion. They may also fail to conceive,
reabsorbing the embryos at about 10 days to 2 weeks. Males
will eventually become sterile, have abnormal semen quality, and the
testicles will atrophy. They may have an inflamed prostate, be
unwilling to breed and have inflamed lymph nodes. Some will
eventually get infection in the bones or joints and show signs of
arthritis and infections of the eye.
Can my dog be
cured
The simple answer is NO. The
bacteria lives in the bloodstream and then infects other parts of
the dog's body, such as joints and bones. In males, the
bacteria continues to live in the prostate gland even after any
treatment. No dogs in a breeding program should be treated for
brucellosis, they should be destroyed. Pets may be
spayed/neutered and go through a long treatment of antibiotics,
however, they may continue to be a source of infection to other dogs
and and to humans. Even dogs who have gone through treatment
and had negative tests may relapse and again infect other dogs and
humans. It is recommended that any dog that becomes infected
be euthanized. Testing for this disease is difficult.
The first test is an RSAT that can be done by a local lab, or your
vet if they have the facilities. Unfortunately a positive from
this test is often incorrect, so any positives then need to be sent
on to Cornell for an AGID test. As of this time, the Cornell
test is considered the most accurate, however, if your dog is in the
early stages they may test negative on the AGID. Any dog
knowingly exposed should be tested again at 30 to 45 days after
exposure. The reason for this is that the RSAT and the AGID
only test for the antibodies produced by the dogs system to try to
fight the disease. So if they are recently infected, they
might not test positive for at least 45 days. The veterinary
college at Ames, Iowa State Veterinary College, is currently
conducting field tests on a new procedure that tests for the
bacteria itself. They are having very good results, and from
personal experience, they can detect a positive before the Cornell
AGID test does. If you think your dog may have been exposed I
would recommend contacting Christine Peterson at the veterinary
college for more information on this new
test.
How can I protect my
dogs
There are some things you can do,
however, infection actually rests with other breeders and owners
that you can't control. First, test your breeding females
before each breeding, especially if they have had any contact with
dogs that don't belong to your kennel. Test your males at
least every six months. Any new dog brought onto your property
should be isolated for at least 45 days and tested at that time
before coming into contact with your other dogs. If you show
your dogs, those taken to the show should also be isolated for 45
days, and tested. If you breed outside females, they should
come to you with a negative brucellosis test that has been done
within the week. Then get them off your property as quickly as
possible, or test them again at 45 days. If you take your
female to an outside male, be sure he has been tested within the
last few days, and then isolate the female for 45 days after
bringing her back home. I know this is a lot of work, however,
your dog, like mine, could be infected just by sniffing the vaginal
area of an infected female that he sees at a show. It can be
that simple, and that horrible. The best way to protect our
dogs is to lobby for changes in state and federal law, as well as
lobbying AKC and other breed groups as well as small clubs to
require negative brucellosis tests on any dogs registered with them,
and any being shown at their sanctioned
shows.
Can I get Brucellosis from my
dog
YES. There is quite a bit of
confusing information on this topic, but all articles indicate we
are able to contract the disease from our dogs. It is rare,
however, especially those who are around females that have aborted
litters are at risk. The discharge from the vagina is
full of the bacteria, and we can catch it from a cut or contact with
our mucus membranes. The people most likely to contact the
disease are children, pregnant women and those with compromised
immune systems. The bacteria can also be transmitted through
contact with infected saliva and urine (like if you let your dog
lick you in the face, or your children allow them to like their
hands and then put them in their mouth). Signs of infection
are flu-like symptoms, high fever, abortions in women and
inflammation of the testicles in men. One article indicated
there is some evidence that it can cause infertility in children who
become infected.
How do I eradicate brucellosis
once my kennel is infected
First, you need to make the
difficult decision to euthanize any dogs that are found to be
positive for the disease. Keeping even one dog, even if you
steralize it and go through the antibiotic treatment can reinfect
your kennel if that dog has a relapse, and you never know when that
will happen, or if it will. The bacteria is easily destroyed
by a 1/32 ratio of bleach. All kennels should be sprayed until
they are soaked, and the solution needs to stay wet for at least 10
minutes. Then you can wash down with water, or just let it
dry. Any porous items, such as plastic bowls, beds, toys,
collars or leashes should be thrown away. If your dog house is
wood, it should be sprayed with bleach and then painted to prevent
any of the micro-organisms from remaining in the wood or seams of
the wood. Any common areas, like yards, that can't be
decontaminated, should be left without dogs for at least 60
days. The bacteria can live for 60 days in damp soil and up to
144 days at 20C and 40% humidity. It can live 30 days in
urine, 75 days in aborted fetusus and over 200 days in uterine
exudate. It can live years if frozen, so if your outbreak is
in the winter you will need to decontaminate in the
spring.
I hope this information has helped
you. If you have comments or suggestions please feel free to
e-mail me. I would also appreciate any help in contacting
breed registries, rescue leagues, shelters, show organizations and
state/federal legislators to push for state and federal control of
this disease.
The following are some, but not
all of the web sites used for the information provided
above.
Canadian Food Inspection
Agency-Science Branch-Pathogen Data Sheet-Brucellosis
ww.inspection.gc.ca/english/sci/bio/sniam/disemala/brucelle.shtml
Veterinary Medicine Q &
A www.geocities.com/rapeeples/vqa/dogrepro.html?20088
Canine Brucellosis Q & A for
Dog Owners Canine Brucellosis www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/brucellosis_canis.pdf
Brucellosis FAQs for Dog
Owners; www.agr.state.ga.us
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/brucellosis_g.htm
| 
