Brucellosis Reactivation after 28 Years | CDC EID

EID Journal Home > Volume 16, Number 12–December 2010

Volume 16, Number 12–December 2010
Letter
Brucellosis Reactivation after 28 Years
Önder Ögredici,1 Stefan Erb,1 Igor Langer, Paola Pilo, Anna Kerner, Horst G. Haack, Gieri Cathomas, Jürg Danuser, Georgios Pappas, and Philip E. Tarr
Author affiliations: Kantonsspital Bruderholz, Basel, Switzerland (Ö. Ögredici, S. Erb, I. Langer, A. Kerner, H.G. Haack, P.E. Tarr); University Bern, Bern, Switzerland (P. Pilo); Cantonal Institute of Pathology, Liestal, Switzerland (G. Cathomas); Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, Bern, (J. Danuser); and Institute of Continuing Medical Education, Ioannina, Greece (G. Pappas)

Suggested citation for this article

To the Editor: Approximately 10% of patients with brucellosis experience a relapse, 90% of which occur within a year after discontinuation of antimicrobial drug therapy (1,2). Here we report a patient who had brucellosis in a disease-endemic area, immigrated to a brucellosis-free region, and experienced focal reactivation in her gallbladder 28 years later. To our knowledge, this interval is among the longest reported asymptomatic intervals between a first brucellosis episode and reactivation. The case suggests that physicians should not disregard remote histories of brucellosis and past residence in brucellosis-endemic areas when confronted with possible reactivation disease.

full-text:
Brucellosis Reactivation after 28 Years | CDC EID

Suggested Citation for this Article
Ögredici Ö, Erb S, Langer I, Pilo P, Kerner A, Haack HG,.et al. Brucellosis reactivation after 28 years. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 Dec [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/12/2021.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1612.100678



1These authors contributed equally to this article.


Comments to the Authors
Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Philip E. Tarr, Infectious Diseases Service, Kantonsspital Bruderholz, University of Basel, Switzerland; email: philip.tarr@unibas.ch