Brucella: a Mr Hide converted into Dr Jekyll

Dr David Bruce (1855-1931) first identified the causative agent of brucellosis as a small Gran-negative alpha-Proteobacterium, which was later on called Brucella melitensis in his honor by Meyer and Shaw. Nowadays. four strains exhibit pathogenicity in humans with B. melitensis being the least host specific and also the most infectious for humans. The other strains are Brucella suis and Brucella abortus and more recently human cases being infected with Brucella cetaceae have been reported. Why Such a reemerging disease is so difficult to fight, evidence shows that the pathogenic bacterium has developed strategies to hide from immune recognition. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.