Brucella: potential biothreat agent

Brucellosis is an ancient disease caused by brucellae, which are small, facultative, intracellular, gram-negative coccobacilli. Ten species of Brucella have been identified as the causative agents of brucellosis in mammalian hosts. Natural infections with Brucellae occur globally among humans and animals, resulting in significant economic losses. Research in recent years has focused on appropriate methods for environmental sampling, early detection techniques, decontamination procedures, and the development of new therapeutics and vaccines. Despite this research focus, there is still no human vaccine available. This is of particular concern as Brucellae are highly infectious via the aerosol route; therefore, they have the potential to be misused as agents of biological warfare. The global biological terrorist risk is increasing yearly due to a number of factors including increased migration, escalating numbers of displaced people, the speed and scale of global travel, and technological advances which have enhanced our ability to manipulate pathogens. Presented are a review of the recent developments in brucellosis research and an evaluation of the risks associated with the use of brucellae in deliberate biological attacks.