Pathological changes and bacteriological assessments in the urinary tract of pregnant goats experimentally infected with Brucella melitensis.

backgroundThis study was conducted to investigate the pathological changes and distribution of B. melitensis in the urinary tract of pregnant goats following acute experimental infection. Six Jamnapari crossbred does in their third trimester of pregnancy were randomly assigned into two groups; Group 1 was uninfected control and Group 2 was inoculated conjunctival with 0.1 mL of the inoculums containing 10

resultsNone of the goats showed clinical signs or gross lesions. The most consistent histopathology finding was the infiltration of mononuclear cells, chiefly the macrophages with few lymphocytes and occasionally neutrophils in all organs along the urinary tract of the infected goats of Group 2. Other histopathology findings included mild necrosis of the epithelial cells of the renal tubules, congestion and occasional haemorrhages in the various tissues. Kidneys showed the most severe lesions. Immunoperoxidase staining revealed the presence of B. melitensis within the infiltrating macrophages and the epithelium of renal tubules, ureter, urethra and urinary bladder. Most extensive distribution was observed in the urinary bladder. Brucella melitensis was successfully isolated at low concentration (3.4 × 10

conclusionThis study demonstrates the presence of low concentrations of B. melitensis in the organs of urinary tract of pregnant does, resulting in mild histopathology lesions. However, B. melitensis was not isolated from the urine that was collected from the urinary bladder.