THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BACTERIAL HYPERSENSITIVITY IN HUMAN BRUCELLOSIS: STUDIES ON INFECTION DUE TO STRAIN 19 BRUCELLA ABORTUS

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Abstract
Strain 19, a stable variant of B. abortus, with effective antigenic properties and having attenuated virulence, is being used extensively for immunizing cattle. Human infections due to strain 19 rarely occur. In this report the clinical and immunologic data are presented on four veterinarians who were accidentally infected while immunizing cattle. Two of the veterinarians infected with strain 19 had never had brucellosis previously, and a latent or incubation period of several days elapsed before symptoms of the disease appeared. On the other hand, two of the veterinarians had been infected before and within a few hours became acutely ill. It is concluded that acquired brucella hypersensitivity plays a significant role in the genesis of the illness of acute brucellosis. Additional experimental and clinical studies are cited relative to the significance of brucella endotoxin in acute brucellosis and its relation to acquired hypersensitivity. Although immunizing cattle with strain 19 B. abortus has expedited the eradication of bovine brucellosis in the U. S., there is no justification for employing this vaccine for human immunization programs in this country.