Can Brucellosis be spread?

[Caitlin Eli]

we just bought a dairy goat that wasn't in the best health and the vet sent off a test to see if she had brucellosis. The vet said to discard her milk until the results came back but I was wondering if she did have it could it be spread to our other goats because I would like to put her out on the pasture with them. Does Brucellosis only spread through milk or is it any body fluid?
And if she does have Brucellosis will she have to be put down?

[coso]

Yes it can be sexually transmitted,it's an abortive disease. In cattle it was always called bangs around here. I remember when I was a kid cow herds would come through the sale barn with a big B painted on them. If it is diagnosed as brucellosis, you have to slaughter or destroy the animal. I really doubt it is brucellosis though. It has been pretty well wiped out around here for years.

[Caitlin Eli]

ok thanks!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Most veterinarians who have worked with cattle that tested positive have it. It is in all the fluids.

I'd put the goat down and burn the carcass thoroughly.

Texas has only recently become a "brucellosis free state," but there are still a couple of herds that have a random positive animal show up now and again.

[mygoat]

Brucellosis is VERY unusual and is not likely - though possible. There is no cure, and some kinds are very dangerous to humans - especially the 2 kinds found in goats (melitensis and abortus). If I recall correctly, affected herds are quarantined and any animals leaving must be slaughter-only until clean - usually the best way to do that is to depopulate, considering the risk of spread and difficulty managing animals infected with a highly zoonotic disease. Very rarely an animal will recover but it is far more common that they are chronically ill and a constant source of disease spread. Brucella is easily spread through milk, body fluids, and through inhalation (really only a risk in slaughter plants or in the laboratory).

[Alice In TX/MO]

Brucellosis is unusual in cattle herds in states that have been brucellosis free a LONG time. It is still in various species of wild animals and sometimes crosses back into cattle.

Buffalo, elk, and wild cattle are a reservoir of the disease.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_hea...bruc-facts.pdf

[mygoat]

Cattle tend to have abortus, which is less common in goats. Goats/sheep tend to have melitensis, which I'm pretty sure is considered eradicated in the US. They CAN get either-or which is why some herds of sheep/goats still come up pos for abortus here and there.