It is suspected that ane in ten dogs cary rucellosis. It is transmitable to humans who may develop serious liver impairment or arthritis. It remains a very difficult disorder to treat and in most cases, treatment is a failure. If treatment is at all sucessful, patient is most often steriule or a very poor breeding specimen. Do not breed to a dog who is said to have been treated and cured. Patients often begin shedding the bacteria months or even years after treatment. Do not knowingly take the risk.
Brucellosis in the female dog lives in the vaginal and uterine tissue and secretions. Litters are commonly aborted, usually in the last 2 weeks of gestation, or the pups may die shortly after birth. She can spread the bacteria to other animals through her urine, aborted fetuses, or most commonly through the act of breeding.
In males the brucella bacteria live in the testicles and seminal fluids. An infected male is just as dangerous as the female as he can spread it via his urine and semen. Oftentimes, there are no signs except in advanced cases when testicles may be uneven in size.
Since Brucellosos is mainly spread through the act of breeding, it is very important to test all canines both male and female prior to breeding.
Test between every breeding of different animals. For example. If a dog was tested a year ago, but has since been bred, it must be tested again. In the case of males, if he serviced a female since his lst test, then he must be retested. Even if his last test was as recent as a few weeks ago.
Testing is the only sure way to detect carriers.