Abstract

BRUCELLOSIS A REVIEW ON THE DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES AND MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BRUCELLOSIS

Sri Raghava and S. Umesha*

ABSTRACT

Brucellosis is an important re-emerging infectious bacterial zoonotic disease. The symptoms of the disease are pathognomonic with much clinical manifestation that makes its diagnosis complicated. Brucellosis continues to pose a human health risk globally despite several eradication programs for the control of disease from domestic animals. Contact with infected animals, ingestion of contaminated animal products and handling of Brucella isolates in laboratories are risk factors. The diagnostic tests are applied with different goals, such as national screening, confirmatory diagnosis, certification, and international trade. The validation of such diagnostic tests is still an issue, particularly in wildlife. The choice of the testing strategy depends on the prevailing brucellosis epidemiological situation and the aim of testing. The most widely used methods of diagnosis are based on serology, which measures the ability of the serum (antibody) to agglutinate a standardised amount of killed Brucella abortus (antigen) containing O-side chain. These tests are most commonly used because they are safe to handle. However, they are prone to false-positive results due to other cross-reacting bacteria, and also, they are not useful in the detection of Brucella canis and Brucella ovis which lack the O-side chain. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been found to be a useful and more sensitive test, but has not been validated for standard laboratory use. A safe and effective vaccine in humans is not yet available. Prevention is dependent upon the control of the disease in animal hosts, effective heat treatment of dairy produce and hygienic precautions to prevent occupational exposure. Because of high rates of treatment failure or relapses due to emerging resistance, the treatment of brucellosis is still problematic. Thus, new antibacterial compounds are becoming necessary for brucellosis treatment. This review will summarize different conventional, advanced molecular techniques used in clinical laboratories for direct detection and identification of Brucella spp. and management of the disease using the different Medicinal plants.

Keywords: Brucella canis and Brucella ovis.