Large human Brucella melitensis outbreak in Israel, 2014

A case study is presented of a large Brucella melitensis outbreak in the North of Israel presumably due to the consumption of infected goat cheese. Over a period of six months a total number of 41 isolates were tested and all of them were confirmed to be B. melitensis biovar 1, field strain, by standard bacteriological methods. Fourteen goat herds in the region were tested for brucellosis of which 10 were found serologically positive out of which B. melitensis was isolated from 5 herds. Four herds had B. melitensis biovar 1 and one herd B. melitensis biovar 2. The intra-herd prevalence of seropositive animals did not appear to be a factor determining the number of sick family members. Additionally, the major route of infection in humans was found to be the consumption of contaminated dairy products.