Brucellosis: a short review of the disease situation in Paraguay

A short review of the brucellosis situation, its control and eradication programs are presented. Data from over 1.2 million samples collected from more than 50,718 groups of cattle over a period of over 20 years (1979-2000) illustrates that over the last few years the number of individual reactors remain constant at around 3-4%. The percentage of reactive groups of animals decreased over these years, reflecting a better disease management and possibly an improved general education, handling of information on the immune (vaccination) status of animals and testing practices. Reported zoonotic cases are presented, as well as control and eradication programs, including utilization of vaccines. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.