Brucellosis

More than a year after bacteria escaped from a factory for vaccines against brucellosis in northwest China, an outbreak of the disease in the region has raised concerns about how many people might really have been infected and the wider consequences. So far, 3,245 people have been confirmed as infected with the Brucella bacteria,  according to figures reported on the website of the health commission of the city of Lanzhou  in Gansu province, which date from September 15. The party newspaper Global Times on November 5, however, puts the number of infected higher, at 6,620. There are another 1,400 suspected cases. More than 21,000 people have been tested.  Even if at first glance this news is reminiscent of the unverified rumors about SARS-CoV2 escaping from a Chinese research laboratory in Wuhan,  this time, at least, it is not an unknown or novel disease that is in question. Nonetheless, these cases once again remind us how quickly pathogens can spread from animal...

The world is also suffering due to the impact of the novel coronavirus . As researchers are putting efforts to develop a vaccine for the virus, another pathogen has surfaced in China, the first country where coronavirus surfaced. According to latest reports, the Brucellosis disease has infected 6,000 people in north-western China so far. Here are some facts about the disease shared by the World Health Organization (WHO) ·Brucellosis, a bacterial infection is caused by many species of the bacteria Brucella. ·Brucella melitensis from the Brucellaceae family of bacteria is the most prevalent species causing Brucellosis in humans. ·It spreads from animals such as goats, cattle, swine and dogs to human beings. ·Brucellosis is found in many countries around the world. ·Direct contact between a human being and the infected animal can cause Brucellosis. ·If a person consumes a contaminated product from the infected animal (unpasteurised milk or fresh cheese) or if they inhale airb...

A view of Lanzhou, capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province. Photo: Lao Ma/GT Eight people have been held accountable for a brucellosis incident in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu Province, in which 6,620 people have been found infected. The incident happened between July and August 2019, when the Zhongmu Lanzhou biological pharmaceutical factory used expired disinfectant in its Brucella vaccine production, leading to bacteria-containing aerosols leaking in the area. A total of 55,725 people have been tested so far near the factory, accounting for 97.5 percent of the total residents in Yanchang Road sub-district, the worst impacted area, and 6,620 have been confirmed infected. Eight people responsible for the incident in the pharmaceutical factory were fired or warned, an official of the Lanzhou Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said at the press conference. The first compensation fund of 10 million yuan has been allocated on September 24 for monitoring, dia...

BEIJING (Reuters) - More than 6,000 people in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province in northwest China, have tested positive for a bacterial disease called brucellosis, the local government was cited as saying, in an outbreak caused by a leak at a vaccine plant over a year ago. The government has tested 55,725 people in the city, of which 6,620 are positive for brucellosis as of now, the Lanzhou government said at a press conference, according to a report on Thursday by the state-owned Global Times. That represents a big jump from 3,245 positive cases for brucellosis as of Sept. 14. Humans get brucellosis with flu-like symptoms through direct contact with infected animals, by eating or drinking contaminated animal products, or by inhaling airborne agents, according to the World Health Organization. Some symptoms can become chronic and never go away. According to a statement from Lanzhou's health commission dated September, the outbreak originated at a biopharmaceutical factory...

After the coronavirus pandemic, a zoonotic bacterial infection called brucellosis, caused by a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year is wreaking havoc in China. The Health Commission of Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, confirmed that over 6,000 people had contracted the disease Brucellosis, caused by contact with livestock carrying the bacteria Brucella. The government has tested 55,725 people in the city, of which 6,620 are positive for brucellosis as of now, the Lanzhou government said at a press conference, according to a report on Thursday by the state-owned Global Times. That represents a big jump from 3,245 positive cases for brucellosis as of September 14. According to the World Health Organization, humans get brucellosis with flu-like symptoms through direct contact with infected animals, by eating or drinking contaminated animal products, or by inhaling airborne agents. Some symptoms can become chronic and never go away. Ac...

An elk is netted for testing in the Madison Valley as part of a 2018 elk capture operations designed to study and track brucellosis in Montana.  Montana FWP BRIAN YABLONSKI In a move that will benefit both ranchers and wildlife in our region, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced researchers can now study the disease brucellosis in an outdoor setting. For ranchers who have long feared that migrating elk will spread the disease to cattle, this change brings potential to reduce the conflict between humans and wildlife. Elk rely on the generosity of private landowners as they move along their migration corridors, leaving Yellowstone National Park for the open, agricultural fields of Paradise Valley in search of winter forage. Yet the presence of elk is a disease risk for ranchers, reducing the rancher’s tolerance of the wildlife. In order to conserve migration corridors, we must reduce the liability of elk borne by landowners by addressing the ris...

And yet, many prominent epidemiologists, public health researchers and physicians are pushing back against the concept. NIH Director Francis Collins condemned conronavirus herd immunity-based responses, calling them “fringe” and “dangerous,” while World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it “scientifically and ethically problematic.” Currently the theory of herd immunity is used in public health settings when immunity can be acquired through a vaccine, such as measles or polio, but not when it requires people to contract a disease to develop immunity. While herd immunity is the theory behind vaccine programs, the concept originated in veterinary medicine and livestock management in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This matters because in this setting, economics rather than ethics served as a guiding force. In some cases, it was cheaper to slaughter diseased or suspected animals to prevent the rest from getting sick than expose an entire h...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Kathy Simmons, issued the following statement in mid-October in response to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announcing draft policy to allow animal health researchers to conduct brucellosis studies on cattle and other large animals that cannot be easily housed indoors: “This announcement is welcome news for cattle producers that face uncertainty from wildlife, infected with brucellosis threatening the well-being of their animals and operations. Thank you to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, Undersecretary Greg Ibach, and their teams, for developing this framework to advance our ability to control and eradicate brucellosis through improved opportunities to study disease transmission between cattle and wildlife. This expanded research is a good first step and NCBA will continue to work with the Trump administration to further protect producers from threats due to brucellosis.” USDA’...

On Wednesday, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a draft policy statement through the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP) on research with Brucella species in outdoor settings. United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) Animal Health and Identification Committee Chairman Dwight Keller issued the following statement: “For years, USCA and other animal health leaders have called for the allowance of Brucella research to study vaccine responses to natural infections in cattle, swine, elk, or bison. However, the inclusion of certain Brucella strains on the U.S. Select Agents and Toxins List has severely limited the ability of researchers to perform these kinds of studies. In 1996, the U.S. had 11 facilities capable of performing this type of research – now, there is no such facility capable of studying large mammals in containment while also following proper biosecurity protocols. “Though certain Brucella stra...

MONTANA — On Wednesday, USDA Undersecretary Greg Ibach along with U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced the USDA is continuing research on brucellosis in Montana. The infectious disease can severely harm cattle and wildlife. Ibach said it has been eliminated in all other parts of the state except in the Yellowstone area. “It’s going to take some time to be able to find the right research project, the most efficacious way to deliver the vaccine either orally or through other methods that we might could use in wildlife, so I don’t expect this in a year or maybe even two. This is something that’s going to take some time,” explained Ibach. Funding for the continued study will come from the USDA.

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc all across the world with no end in sight. World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has recently said that there is no guarantee whether any single coronavirus vaccine now in development will work. The organisation has said that currently, 200 COVID-19 vaccines are in clinical and preclinical testing. So far, the pandemic has claimed the lives of 971,000 people, and affected over 31.6 million people in the world. However, compounding the current problems affecting the world, scientists are now worried about another disease called Brucellosis that has infected over 3000 people in north-east China. The outbreak of the bacterial disease is said to have been caused by a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year, authorities said last week. If the disease spreads as quickly as the coronavirus, trouble is not far behind for a country like India. The COVID-19 pandemic on its own has brought the country to its knees with hospit...

Key Takeaways Brucellosis is a bacterial infection transmitted from animals to humans, but not between humans. Experts say a recent outbreak in China isn't cause for alarm in the United States. There’s currently an outbreak of brucellosis, a disease caused by bacterial infection, in China. People may be wondering what it is and if they are at risk—and if this will play out like COVID-19. But experts says brucellosis spreads very differently than COVID-19. Experts say there’s not much cause for alarm because of the low rate of human-to-human transmission. “The outbreak in China should not increase concern in the U.S. The disease does not spread by person-to-person transmission,” Justin Lessler, Phd, an associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, tells Verywell. Brucellosis is a bacterial infection also known as Malta fever and Mediterranean fever. Brucella  abortus,  Brucella  melitensis and  Brucella  suis are strains of th...

Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu Province. Photo: VCG A total of 3,245 people have tested positive for Brucellosis as of Monday in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu Province, according to an investigation report into the Brucellosis antibody positive event in Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute that occurred in December 2019. The report was released by the Health Commission of Lanzhou on Tuesday, stating that compensation will be carried out in batches in October to effectively protect people's health and interests. By Monday, a total of 21,847 people had been tested, of whom 4,646 had preliminarily screened positive, and 3,245 had been confirmed positive by the Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the report said. It triggered public concern about how the infected people are treated and compensated, which reached the top of the hot research list on Chinese Twitter-like Sina Weibo, with more than 48 million views as of press time. After the occu...

Sep 17, 2020, 09:36PM IST Source: Times Now Several thousands of people in northwest China are reportedly tested positive for brucellosis, a bacterial disease, after a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year. According to the Health Commission of Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, 3,245 people were infected by brucellosis. Brucellosis is an infectious bacterial disease affecting human beings caused by Brucella. Also known as Mediterranean fever, it is transmitted by contact with infected livestock including cattle and sheep, the symptoms include fever, malaise and headaches.

At the end of last year, thousands of residents of the north-western city of Lanzhou were stricken with brucellosis, a highly contagious disease caused by contaminants from a state-owned biopharmaceutical factory. Although local officials said the disease would heal itself over time, many residents are still suffering from it. Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Months before the global pandemic started in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of last year, thousands of residents near a biopharmaceutical plant in the north-western city of Lanzhou were exposed to a highly contagious and hard-to-treat disease called brucellosis caused by contaminated exhaust at a biopharmaceutical factory. Most people tested positive for the antibodies of the disease, which commonly occurs among sheep, cattle, goats, pigs and dogs and also is called Malta Fever or Mediterranean Fever. The disease can cause recurring fever, joint pain and severe headaches, among other symptoms. Chronic brucellosis...

Editor's note: Pseudonyms are used in this story to protect the privacy of people affected by the disease in Yanchangbao. Last September, 40-year-old shopkeeper Gao Hong in Northwest China's Lanzhou city was hit with crippling joint pain and persistent fever. It took nearly six months for doctors to diagnose her condition as brucellosis, an animal-borne bacterial disease. By then, she had missed the window for the most effective treatment, leaving her with a hard-to-cure chronic condition that requires long-term medication. Since July, it's been hard for her to walk unassisted because of the joint pain. Gao is among thousands of residents around a biopharmaceutical plant in Lanzhou who were exposed to the highly contagious, hard-to-treat disease as a result of contaminated factory exhaust last summer. Most of the patients tested positive for brucellosis antibodies, but few were formally diagnosed. Patients said doctors seemed inexplicably reluctant to issue brucel...

Editor’s note: Pseudonyms are used in this story to protect the privacy of people affected by the disease in Yanchangbao. Last September, 40-year-old shopkeeper Gao Hong in Northwest China’s Lanzhou city was hit with crippling joint pain and persistent fever. It took nearly six months for doctors to diagnose her condition as brucellosis, an animal-borne infectious bacterial disease. By then, she had missed the window for the most effective treatment, leaving her with a hard-to-cure chronic condition that requires long-term medication. Since July, it’s been hard for her to walk unassisted because of the joint pain. Gao is among thousands of residents around a biopharmaceutical plant in Lanzhou who were exposed to the highly contagious and hard-to-treat disease as a result of contaminated factory exhaust last summer. Most of the patients tested positive for brucellosis antibodies, but few were formally diagnosed. Patients said doctors seemed inexplicably reluctant to issue brucellosi...