Brucellosis and the liver

Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonosis distributed across the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and Latin America; whose incidence remains largely unknown due to it not being a notifiable disease. Infection in humans is caused mainly by 3 strains of Brucella: B. melitensis (the most common), B. abortus and B. suis; with their respective animal reservoirs being goats and sheep, cattle, and pigs. The usual symptoms include fever, joint pain and hepatosplenomegaly. In the following chapter, clinical presentation, mainly focused on liver involvement and damage, diagnosis and treatment of brucellosis will be further explored.