Context:Â Thousands of people in China have tested positive for brucellosis after a leak at a biopharmaceutical company.
About BrucellosisÂ
- Brucellosis also known as Malta fever or Mediterranean fever is a bacterial disease caused by various Brucella species which mainly infect cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dogs.
- Transmission:Â Humans generally acquire the disease through direct contact with infected animals, by eating or drinking contaminated animal products or by inhaling airborne agents. Person-to-person transmission is rare.
- Symptoms:Â The disease causes flu-like symptoms including fever, weakness, malaise and weight loss.
- Treatment:Â The infection can usually be treated with antibiotics. However, treatment takes several weeks to months and the infection can recur.
| African Swine Fever (AFS): Amid the covid-19 lockdown, an outbreak of ASF killed thousands of pigs in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. ASF is a severe viral disease that affects wild and domestic pigs typically resulting in an acute haemorrhagic fever. The disease has a case fatality rate (CFR) of almost 100 per cent. Its routes of transmission include direct contact with an infected or wild pig (alive or dead), indirect contact through ingestion of contaminated material such as food waste, feed or garbage, or through   |