Brucella infection and vaccine studies in feral and domestic swine

Abstract

ProQuest Information and Learning Company. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION Overview Dissertation organization 3 References CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Review of the literature References Figure CHAPTER 3. DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A FERAL SWINE HERD ENZOOTICALLY INFECTED WITH BRUCELLA Abstract 43 Introduction 43 Materials and Methods Results Discussion 52 References Tables Figures CHAPTER 4. RESULTS OF A VACCINE TRIAL USING BRUCELLA ABORTUS RB51 IN A FERAL SWINE HERD ENZOOTICALLY INFECTED WITH BRUCELLA Abstract 70 Introduction 70 Materials and Methods Results Discussion and Conclusions References Table Figures CHAPTER 5. PARENTERAL VACCINATION OF DOMESTIC PIGS WITH BRUCELLA ABORTUS STRAIN RB51 Abstract 84 iii CHAPTER 6. RESULTS OF VACCINE TRIALS USING A NATURALLY ROUGH MUTANT OF BRUCELLA SUIS IN SWINE Abstract 103 Introduction 104 Materials and Methods Results 113 Discussion References Tables 123 Figures 130 CHAPTER 7. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS Conclusions 144 References 148 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 150 1 CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION Overview The genus Brucella includes eight species which infect numerous mammalian hosts as well as humans. In the natural animal hosts the brucellae infect the lymphoreticular and reproductive organs. These infections often lead to pyogranulomatous lesions in numerous organs. In humans the disease has been historically referred to as undulant fever and is characterized by recurrent pyrexia, malaise, myalgia, abortion in pregnant females, and pyogranulomatous lesions in male reproductive organs, joints, and parenchymatous organs. The first isolation of Brucella was made by David Bruce in 1887 on the island of Malta from the spleens of infected British soldiers and was originally named Micrococcus melitensis. 2, 6 Later work on Malta found that the organism which Bruce identified was also found in the milk of goats. 10 The genus was later renamed Brucella in honor of Bruce's contribution to discovering the etiologic agent of undulant fever. The first isolation of Brucella in animals, however, was made by Bang in Denmark in 1897. 1 Bang also was the first to fulfill Koch's postulates by reproducing abortion in pregnant cattle with the organism which he isolated. The first isolation of Brucella in swine occurred in 1914 in Indiana and was accomplished by Traum. 8 Traum isolated the organism from an aborted fetus and identified the organism as a unique strain of Brucella abortus, which was at that time known as Bacillus abortus. The causative agent of swine brucellosis was later recognized and classified as a separate species in the genus Brucella by Huddleson in 1929, and was renamed Brucella suis. 4 The first eradication program for brucellosis in the United States was initiated for cattle in 1934. This program was started subsequent to a major drought and the great depression more as an effort to reduce cattle numbers within the country as part of an economic recovery program rather than to control brucellosis. 7 Since its inception, this program has relied on identificati...