Brucellosis afflicts over 10% cattle population in Punjab,say experts

“It is a disease which causes abortions in animals during six to nine months of pregnancy and if spread to humans,women get the same problem,” said Dr J P S Gill,director,School of Public Health and Zoonosis,GADVASU,talking to Newsline.

Not only cattle,but also horse,sheep,goat,pig and other animals get infected. During pregnancy all the infection attacks uterus,he said.

The first-ever two-day annual meeting of Department of Biotechnology,Government of India,on this disease began at GADVASU on Tuesday.

Dr S R Rao,advisor,Department of Biotechnology,was present at the meeting and said that “temperature,night chills,joint pains,bodyache are common symptoms in human beings of this disease”.

Dr Gill told Newsline that “recently a research has also found presence of virus even in marine animals which is a grave cause for concern”.

He said that brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease transmitted from animals to human beings through direct contact and consumption of raw milk and milk products. “It is still an uncontrolled serious public health problem in many developing countries including India. In livestock,brucellosis results in reduced productivity,abortions and infertility leading to considerable economic losses,” said Dr Gill.

Asked about the measures to control it,he said that to date there is no treatment for it. “While foreign nations slaughter animals,here it is not allowed. All we can do is to isolate animal from farm. In humans,antibiotics can only control the spread. That too only if damage has not reached beyond a level. If virus has reached the joints,then it is irreversible,” he said.

Every year more than 5,00,000 cases of this disease are reported in the world.

Gill said that raw milk,meat should be strictly avoided as only boiling milk and cooking meat can eliminate the virus from the products of infected animal. Most of the times,the farmer simply does not know that his animal has a particular disease.