Brucellosis

Overview 
Theory 
Diagnosis 
Management 
Follow up 
Resources 

Screening family contacts

In endemic areas, up to 30% of household contacts may have serologic evidence of Brucella exposure, with or without symptoms.[20][19] If resources permit, household contacts can be screened using clinical questionnaires, serology, and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and be treated if positive.

Screening post exposure

Laboratory personnel and others exposed to Brucella release should be followed up with regular clinical and serologic surveillance, especially if immediate postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is not given.[35][36][38][122][123][124][125] Optimal frequency and duration of follow-up has not been agreed on, except that follow-up beyond 6 months is not required. Compliance with frequent reviews is poor. Serologic surveillance is inappropriate for exposure to some vaccine strains such as RB51 or to B canis, which do not elicit serologic responses in humans.

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