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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Brucella abortus
Categories: Zoonotic; notifiable diseases and bacteria
Etymology: Genus name: named after Sir David Bruce, who first identified the organism, which causes brucellosis.
Species epithet: which causes abortion.
Significance:  [Very important]   
Alternative Species Name(s):Brucella melitensis biovar Abortus
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Pseudomonadota
Class
Alphaproteobacteria
Order
Hyphomicrobiales
Family
Brucellaceae 
Genus
Brucella
Type Strain: 544 = ATCC 23448 = NCTC 10093.
Macromorphology (smell): Pale honey coloured transparant colonies, which do not give hemolysis on blood agar.
Micromorphology: Non-motile small coccoid rod (0.6 x 0.6-1.5 µm).
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.:
Special Media:
Disease:
HostsDiseaseClinical picture
CattleBovine brucellosis
(Bang´s disease)
Cow; abortion (mostly after ≥5 months gestation), weak calves, retained placenta
Bulls; orchitis (unilateral), epididymitis, inflammation of the accessory reproductive organs
HorsesBrucellosis
(Bang´s disease)
Bursitis
Sheep and goatBrucellosis
(Bang´s disease)
Sporadic abortion
HumansBrucellosis
(Bang´s disease)
Systemic disease with variated symptoms, intermittent fever, headache, sweating, joint pain, loss of appetite and local infections. Subclinical infections occur
DogBrucellosis
(Bang´s disease)
Weight loss, fatigue, asymptomatic carriers occur
PigsBrucellosis
(Bang´s disease)
Abortion, high piglet mortality and lameness
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
NC_007618 and NC_007624 2308 3 278 307 (2c + ?) 
Krom. I (2 121 359 bp) resp. krom II (1 156 948 bp).

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
AY513559 2002034574 1 412 
Två rRNA-gener i krom. I och en i krom. II.

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
Brucella abortus  
Twenty-five 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. neotomae, 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 abortus belongs to category B as a potential bioterrorism agent according to NIAID.
Comment:May penetrate intact skin. Brucellosis is notifiable in Sweden and is governed by the epizootic diseases act.
Link: Epiwebb - om epizootisjukdomar [in Swedish]
Updated:2023-03-22

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