Wiktionary
n. Any of a group of pathogenic bacterium of the genus ''Brucella''.
Wikipedia
Brucella is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, named after David Bruce (1855-1931). They are small (0.5 to 0.7 by 0.6 to 1.5 µm), non encapsulated, flagellated, facultatively intracellular coccobacilli.
Brucella is the cause of brucellosis, which is a zoonosis transmitted by ingesting contaminated food (such as unpasteurized milk products), direct contact with an infected animal, or inhalation of aerosols. Transmission from human to human, for example through sexual intercourse or from mother to child, is exceedingly rare, but possible. Minimum infectious exposure is between 10 and 100 organisms.
The different species of Brucella are genetically very similar, although each has a slightly different host specificity. Hence, the NCBI taxonomy includes most Brucella species under Brucella melitensis.
The many names of brucellosis include (human disease/animal disease):
- Malta fever/Bang’s disease
- Undulant fever/enzootic abortion
- Mediterranean fever/epizootic abortion
- Rock fever of Gibraltar/slinking of calves
- Gastric fever/ram epididymitis
- Contagious abortion/spontaneous abortion
Usage examples of "brucella".
The inspectors associated such tools with specific research, primarily into Brucella melintensis, a bacterium that preys on livestock, and a milk protein called casein, which stimulates high growth in various seeds.
So far, we have found chemical and biological weapons - brucella and Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever, ricin, sarin, aflatoxin - and long-range missiles in Iraq.