Prevention of Brucellosis

Prevention list: Methods of prevention of Brucellosis mentioned in various sources includes those listed below. This prevention information is gathered from various sources, and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Brucellosis.

Brucellosis vaccination of animals
Avoid animal contact
Gloves for meat handling
Cook meat thoroughly
Pasteurize milk

Prevention of Brucellosis: Do not consume unpasteurized milk, cheese, or ice cream while traveling. If you are not sure that the dairy product is pasteurized, don't eat it. Hunters and animal herdsman should use rubber gloves when handling viscera of animals. There is no vaccine available for humans. ¹

I am a veterinarian, and I recently accidentally jabbed myself with the animal vaccine (RB-51 or B-19, or REV-1) while I was vaccinating cows (or sheep, goats). What do I need to do?

These are live vaccines, and B-19 is known to cause disease in humans. Although we know less about the other vaccines, the recommendations are the same. You should see a health care provider. A baseline blood sample should be collected for testing for antibodies. We recommend that you take antibiotics (doxycycline and rifampin for B-19 and REV-1, or doxycycline alone for RB-51) for 3 weeks. At the end of that time you should be rechecked and a second blood sample should be collected. (The sample can also be collected at 2 weeks.) The same recommendations hold true for spraying vaccine in the eyes (6 weeks of treatment in this case) or spraying onto open wounds on the skin.¹

Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Brucellosis General: DBMD

Last revision: April 9, 2003

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