| Species/Subspecies: | Brucella melitensis | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories: | Zoonotic; notifiable diseases and bacteria | ||||||||||||
| Etymology: | Genus name: named after Sir David Bruce, who first identified the organism, which causes brucellosis. Species epithet: Refers to the island of Malta (Melita), where the organism was first found. | ||||||||||||
| Significance: | [Very important] | ||||||||||||
| Taxonomy: | Class Alphaproteobacteria Order Hyphomicrobiales Family Brucellaceae Genus Brucella |
||||||||||||
| Type Strain: | 16M = ATCC 23456 = NCTC 100 | ||||||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell): | Pale honey coloured transparant colonies, which do not give hemolysis on blood agar. | ||||||||||||
| Micromorphology: | Non-motile cocci or short rods | ||||||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G- | ||||||||||||
| Metabolism: | Aerobic | ||||||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | +/+ | ||||||||||||
| Other Enzymes: | Urease + | ||||||||||||
| Fermentation of carbohydrates: | Most Brucella spp. do not produce acid by fermentation of carbohydrates. | ||||||||||||
| Spec. Char.: | |||||||||||||
| Disease: | Brucellosis. Malta fever. The disease is a zoonosis.
|
||||||||||||
| Genome Sequence: |
Totally two strains have been sequenced, but plasmids have not been reported. |
||||||||||||
| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
| ||||||||||||
| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
|
About 25 species have been described within genus Brucella and this genus is closely related to genus Bartonella. From a phylogenetic point of view, B. abortus, B. canis, B. ceti, B. melitensis, B. neotome, B. ovis, B. pinnipedialis and B. suis represent the same species (B. melitensis), but due to different host specificities, they have been affiliated with different species. | ||||||||||||
| Legislation: | Brucella melitensis belongs to category B as a potential bioterrorism agent according to NIAID. | ||||||||||||
| Comment: | May penetrate intact skinn. in Sweden brucellosis is notifiable to the Swedish Board of Agriculture and is governed by the epizootic diseases law. | ||||||||||||
| Link: | Epiwebb - om epizootisjukdomar [in Swedish] | ||||||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-22 |
