Brucellosis of animal diseases: "I had fever bouts up to 40 degrees"

Brucellosis of animal diseases: "I had fever attacks up to 40 degrees"

GRAMASTETTEN. When he was working with infested cattle was infecting a Mühlviertel veterinarian – now he is in the process of being cured.

veterinarian Karl Püspök Image: private

Four people have in the Mühlviertel infected with epizootic brucellosis. While two people did not show any symptoms, the disease broke out in two other cases (OEN reported).

One of them is the veterinarian Karl Püspök from Gramastetten. He came in contact with the pathogen because he was caring for cattle on this farm in Rohrbach District, where the disease was diagnosed for the first time in early June. Meanwhile, there is a hint on four other farms in the Mühlviertel.

OÖN: When did you suspect that you had brucellosis?

Karl Püspök: I suspected that the animals on the affected farm could be infected there were always cases of abortions, that is, stillbirths of calves. I also submitted samples, but they gave no results. At the end of May, I got sick myself

What are the symptoms of brucellosis?

I had fever up to 40 degrees Celsius during the day and I perspired heavily at night. After ten or 14 days, I went to the hospital and I said that I probably had a zoonotic disease, a transmissible disease of animals to humans

How long would that did he take you? I had a diagnosis?

I went to the hospital on June 17th and I was diagnosed on June 21st. You can treat the disease well with antibiotics. I had a mild inflammation of the valve, but there was no defect in the heart valve. Meanwhile, I'm on the road to recovery, but still in early August on sick leave

How could the infection have gone?

Probably by obstetrics in infested cattle. Abortus material that is highly infectious. You wear gloves as a veterinarian, but at birth you can still be infected. One thinks of such a disease after its hygiene measures, but there are some risks with which one lives as a veterinarian.

How is the disease transmitted from one animal to the other?

that other animals after birth in the stable sniff the calf. It could also have happened through the work of milking. However, the current cause of the disease in Upper Austria is a mystery.

What Happens to Animals?

Brucellosis is a disease, so infected animals must be slaughtered. If only a few animals on a farm are affected, they can be removed. The others are then tested until one is sure that there is more risk.

Transmission path

Brucellosis is a worldwide animal disease. It affects, for example, cattle, sheep and goats.
It is caused by bacteria, which can also be transmitted to humans. This can happen, for example, by the consumption of raw milk – when pasteurization of germs is killed – or by contact with bodily fluids from infested animals. For example, the pathogen can be absorbed by injured skin.

Human-to-human transmission is very rare and, according to experts, has been described almost exclusively by badfeeding. Infected humans do not infect animals.

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