We raise buffalo (okay, bison) as well as cattle so there is a constant concern about brucellosis. We have inoculated the buffalo and cattle with various vaccines, but they all have had some problems, from inducing spontaneous abortions to persistent serological responses making the tests to determine if an animal is infected return false positives. But now we are using a genetically engineered (
gasp!) live-attenuated vaccine based on deletions of virulence
genes in
B. abortus,
B. suis and
B. melitensis, which, though still in the testing stage, seems to provide high safety levels compared to the live-
attenuated vaccines we've been using. In inoculated animals, this vaccine produces significant symptom attenuation and increased production of T cells, pro-inflammatory cytokines (which initiate defenses against exogenous pathogens), and antibodies. So we'll see how it goes. (Did I have a role in developing it?
Could be.... -- Did you really think I was wasting my turbo-supercharged brain and world-class medical research education on making baking-powder biscuits, refereeing my yard apes, horseback-riding, hiking, declaiming Tennyson's
The Lotos-Eaters in grand, stentorian tones (well, as stentorian as I can manage) from mountain tops, bantering with cowboys, listening to old ranch hands who call me honey and darling yarning about their youthful exploits, swimming nude and dancing in my undies to the oldies? Well, I do all that, too.)
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I mention this vaccine project because most people are totally human-focused and never consider the health of our fellow animals and their significance in maintaining a viable ecosystem. Brucellosis is a world-wide problem both in domestic and wild animals. Among other things, it causes placentitis, resulting in abortions and stillborns, thus reducing livestock productivity and ranch income. Calves who are born alive are very weak. There is no real cure for the disease so once it has been discovered in a herd the standard procedure is that all the animals must be culled and no uninfected animals allowed in that area for at least six months and preferably a .png)
year. Oh, and brucellosis can be transmitted to humans; when it is, it's called undulant fever. You don't want to get that. Most people who do, assuming they are not working with infected animals, acquire it by drinking unpasteurized milk. Drinking unpasteurized milk from uninfected animals is safe, but if it's not from your own cows, you are placing your health in the hands of an unknown supply chain. Dare I point out that a dairy with infected animals has an economic incentive to not report and not cull? It's not a big problem in advanced countries, but elsewhere it is a serious problem.
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I mention this vaccine project because most people are totally human-focused and never consider the health of our fellow animals and their significance in maintaining a viable ecosystem. Brucellosis is a world-wide problem both in domestic and wild animals. Among other things, it causes placentitis, resulting in abortions and stillborns, thus reducing livestock productivity and ranch income. Calves who are born alive are very weak. There is no real cure for the disease so once it has been discovered in a herd the standard procedure is that all the animals must be culled and no uninfected animals allowed in that area for at least six months and preferably a .png)
year. Oh, and brucellosis can be transmitted to humans; when it is, it's called undulant fever. You don't want to get that. Most people who do, assuming they are not working with infected animals, acquire it by drinking unpasteurized milk. Drinking unpasteurized milk from uninfected animals is safe, but if it's not from your own cows, you are placing your health in the hands of an unknown supply chain. Dare I point out that a dairy with infected animals has an economic incentive to not report and not cull? It's not a big problem in advanced countries, but elsewhere it is a serious problem. 