Brucellosis (Brucella spp.)

1997 Case Definition

The 1997 case definition appearing on this page was previously published in the 1990 MMWR Recommendations and Reports titled Case Definitions for Public Health Surveillance [MMWR 1990;39(RR13)] (available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00025629.htm). Thus, the 1990 and 1997 versions of the case definition are identical.

Clinical description

An illness characterized by acute or insidious onset of fever, night sweats, undue fatigue, anorexia, weight loss, headache, and arthralgia

Laboratory criteria for diagnosis

• Isolation of Brucella spp. from a clinical specimen, or
• Fourfold or greater rise in Brucella agglutination titer between acute- and convalescent-phase serum specimens obtained greater than or equal to 2 weeks apart and studied at the same laboratory, or
• Demonstration by immunofluorescence of Brucella spp. in a clinical specimen

Case classification

Probable: a clinically compatible case that is epidemiologically linked to a confirmed case or that has supportive serology (i.e., Brucella agglutination titer of greater than or equal to 160 in one or more serum specimens obtained after onset of symptoms)

Confirmed: a clinically compatible illness that is laboratory confirmed

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