Brucella melitensis ATCC 23457

The genus Brucella is comprised mostly of mammalian pathogens, which due to their low infectious does, aerosol transmission and treatment difficulty are classified as potential bioterrorism agents. Brucellosis is a major infectious disease for both human and animals. Several Brucella species (B.abortus, B.melitensis and B.suis) have been isolated from many different animals. All three Brucella species cause a severe human disease characterized in its acute phase by undulant fever and in its chronic phase by damage of different organs. Brucellosis is a major problem in the Mediterranean region and parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. When the infection is localized to the brain or the heart, it can result in a fatal meningitidis or fatal endocarditis, respectively. Brucella melitensis is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that causes abortion in goats and sheep and undulant fever in humans. The disease is transmitted to human by consumption of non-pasteurized milk and milk products or by direct contact with infected animals and carcasses. Although Brucellae contain a large set of flagellar genes, they display a species-specific gene inactivation and consequently are nonmotile. Strain M28 is a virulent strain isolated from sheep in the 1950s. It is the parent of vaccine strain M5-90 (biovar1) which was isolated after M28 was serially passaged through chickens, treated with acriflavine, and passaged for 90 generations in chicken embryo fibroblasts. Comparison of the 2 sequences will give information on vaccine protection (adapted from PMID 21478357). (EBI Integr8)