Brucellosis and international travel

Abstract

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of worldwide distribution that mainly affects persons working with domestic animals and animal products. Despite being controlled in many developed countries, the disease remains endemic in many parts of the world, including Latin America, the Middle East, Spain, parts of Africa, and western Asia. The disease is mainly transmitted to humans through the ingestion of raw milk or non-pasteurized cheese contaminated with one of the four Brucella species pathogenic to humans. The clinical presentation can vary from asymptomatic infection with seroconversion to a full-blown clinical picture of fever, night sweats and joint manifestations; rarely, there is hepatic, cardiac, ocular or central nervous system involvement. Since travelers may be affected, travel health physicians need to know the clinical presentation of patients with brucellosis and preventive strategies.