Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense
Open Access

Research Article

Medical Countermeasures, Protection and Treatment, against the Brucella species

John W. Cherwonogrodzky^*

Defence Scientist, BioTechnology Section, Defence Research and Development Canada Suffield, PO Box 4000 Station Main Medicine Hat, AB, Canada

*Corresponding Author:

John W. Cherwonogrodzky
Defence Scientist, BioTechnology Section
Defence Research and Development Canada Suffield
PO Box 4000 Station Main Medicine Hat, AB, Canada
Tel: 403-544-4705
Fax: 403-544-3388
E-mail: John.Cherwonogrodzky@drdc-rddc.gc.ca

Received Date: December 26, 2012; Accepted Date: February 15, 2013; Published Date: February 18, 2013

Citation: Cherwonogrodzky JW (2013) Medical Countermeasures, Protection and Treatment, against the Brucella species. J Bioterr Biodef S3:012. doi: 10.4172/2157-2526.S3-012

Copyright: © 2013 Cherwonogrodzky JW. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

The Brucella species are easily grown, highly infectious to humans by the aerosol route and resistant to harsh environments. These traits have contributed to these being part of the biological weapons programs in the United States (1943-1969), former Soviet Union (1920s-1990s), and Iraq (1973-1991). Brucella species also continue to be an agricultural and public health concern, afflicting about 10% of the livestock and about 500,000 people in developing countries. Although it is generally assumed that infections can be readily cleared with aggressive antibiotic therapy, relapses occur and recent PCR results on the sera of former brucellosis patients suggest that the infections are never totally eliminated. However, within this decade there is likely to be several successes for improved medical countermeasures (protection and treatment) against this bacterium, spurred by recent advances for subunit vaccines, immunomodulators, anti-Brucella antibodies, serum surrogate markers, and liposomal delivery of therapeutics. These discoveries are exciting but perhaps the greatest contribution will be indirect. The new concepts and approaches to improve medical countermeasures against the Brucella species may in turn also apply to several other pathogens equally difficult to protect against or treat.