Brucellosis: a worldwide zoonosis

Brucella is one of the world's major zoonotic pathogens, and is responsible for enormous economic losses as well as considerable human morbidity in en demic areas. Control of brucellosis requires practical solutions that can b e easily applied to the field. Rapid DNA-based diagnostic tests for both hu mans and livestock have now proved themselves on an experimental level. Dat a on the virulence of Brucella suggest common mechanisms shared with plant pathogens and endosymbionts of the alpha -proteobacteria. Understanding vir ulence will have practical repercussions in the realms of vaccine developme nt and, perhaps. development of new antibiotics. The first complete Brucell a genome sequence will be released soon, and this will help greatly in our understanding of the biology and evolution of this pathogen.