Brucellosis: symptoms and signs of a disease in humans

Brucellosis is a zoonotic infectious disease that animals suffer. Despite the fact that the carriers of the infection is livestock, it is extremely contagious for humans.

Brucellosis is characterized by a long and severe course, the infection affects the musculoskeletal system, heart, vessels, central nervous system.

It is very important to detect symptoms of brucellosis in a timely manner, an experienced doctor can easily recognize them at the first examination.

How is brucellosis transmitted?

As mentioned above, livestock is the carrier of the infection. That is why the disease is mainly found in rural areas among people who have direct contact with pigs, sheep, goats, cows, horses.

The causative agent of brucellosis is excreted from the body of a sick animal along with urine, feces and milk( if the animal gives milk).

The causative agent is brucella, a dangerous bacterium that is not destroyed even after freezing. Cow's milk remains contagious for more than a month after milking, if the cow was infected with brucella.

Bacteria are so resistant to environmental influences that they easily survive in the soil and water for up to five months. Also during half a year the bacteria keep their activity in frozen meat, in oil, in sour cream, in cream.

In a word, any products cooked on the farm where the infected animals lived are dangerous. The death of bacteria occurs during sterilization and pasteurization, so avoid raw raw milk.

A person can become infected not only through eating and direct contact with a sick animal, but also through contact with skin and fur in the leather industry.

Symptoms of brucellosis in humans

Brucellosis disease is always accompanied by a sufficiently long incubation period, which can continue in a latent form up to several months.

Sometimes the incubation period ends in a couple of weeks, but more often it lasts a little more than a month, after which a variety of signs of brucellosis begin to manifest. The number of symptoms depends on the severity of the disease.

At the very beginning, even experienced doctors do not always notice the disease, the symptoms of brucellosis resemble ordinary flu.

The patient feels malaise and aching muscles, there is discomfort in the arms and legs, the person becomes irritable, sleep is broken, permanent headaches appear, appetite deteriorates.

In the case of acute course, the disease begins immediately with a sharp temperature increase of up to 40 degrees. The pains in the joints and muscles are amplified, the functioning of the musculoskeletal system is disrupted, a fever arises.

Acute flow is often accompanied by psychoemotional disorders, as the causative agent of the disease negatively affects the state of the nervous system.

Peripheral lymph nodes increase, body temperature practically does not decrease. There is an increase in the spleen and liver.

Symptoms are almost identical throughout the acute period of the disease, so it can be difficult to diagnose: an urgent analysis is required for brucellosis so that the doctor prescribes appropriate medication.

Acute stage of the disease can last up to a month and a half, but sometimes it goes into a chronic stage, which is treated for more than six months. In case the disease has caused complications, brucellosis can lead to disability.

What is the treatment for the disease?

Treatment of brucellosis is the destruction of the pathogen that penetrated the human body. Typically, as antibacterial therapy, doctors prescribe streptomycin, levomycetin, and other antibiotics of the tetracycline group that successfully cure brucellosis: treatment lasts three to four weeks and is accompanied by additional maintenance therapy.

After acute symptoms of the disease have disappeared, vaccination is performed to prevent further infection.

It is particularly important to vaccinate people directly in contact with animals in rural areas. Immunity after recovery is preserved, but subsequently there is a possibility of repeated infection, because after 9-10 months the immunity stability begins to decrease gradually.

Physicians note that the probability of a recurrence rate without vaccination is 10%.In some cases( especially in severe cases) brucellosis leads to disability and partial loss of ability to work: residual events disrupt the work of the musculoskeletal system or lead to the appearance of serious cardiovascular disorders.

To rehabilitate patients, physicians prescribe physiotherapy procedures and recommend that they purchase vouchers for sanatoriums or medical resorts.