How Brucellosis infection can impact the food chain

GALVmed is implementing AgResults’ US $30 million Brucellosis Vaccine Prize competition, aimed at incentivising the development of a suitable vaccine that is efficacious, safe and viable for use against Brucella melitensis in small ruminants across the developing world.

Brucellosis causes abortions, infertility and other issues in livestock – and is the most common zoonosis, with approximately 500,000 new human cases reported each year. It remains endemic in a number of developing countries, with the impact to smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia estimated at US $500 million per year.

Here, we speak to Dr Sascha Al Dahouk, Scientific Director at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin and Professor for Internal Medicine at the RWTH Aachen University, about the ways in which brucellosis infection can impact on the food chain – increasing the risk of disease across borders.