Vol. 7(14), pp. 1150-1157, 2 April, 2013 DOI: 10.5897/AJMR12.738 ISSN 1996-0808 © 2013 Academic Journals http://www.academicjournals.org/AJMR African Journal of Microbiology Research Review Brucellosis in Ethiopia Moti Yohannes 1 , Hailu Degefu 1 , Tadele Tolosa 1 , Kelay Belihu 2 , Ronald Cutler 3 and Sally Cutler 4 * 1 School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine of Jimma University, P. O. Box 307, Jimma, Ethiopia. 2 FAO Ethiopia, P. O. Box 5536, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 3 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom. 4 School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, University of East London, Water Lane, London, E15 4LZ, United Kingdom. Accepted 15 February, 2013 We reviewed the distribution of brucellosis in different regions of Ethiopia and its prevalence among different livestock hosts. In the absence of recent published documents, unpublished studies were cited to provide some information on distribution and importance of brucellosis in Ethiopia. Risk factors for the occurrence of brucellosis are also reviewed. Finally, different strategies for the control and prevention of brucellosis under Ethiopian conditions are discussed. Key words: Brucellosis, control, distribution, Ethiopia host, risk factors, prevention. INTRODUCTION Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that leads to considerable morbidity resulting in significant loss of working days across the globe and thus perpetuates poverty. The disease is presented as an acute or persistent febrile illness with a diversity of clinical manifestations (Smits and Kadri, 2004). Various synonyms have been used for human brucellosis including Malta fever, Rock fever of Gibraltar, Cyprus or Mediterranean fever, intermittent typhoid and most frequently, undulant fever (Al Dahouk et al., 2003). The incubation period varies between 14 and 120 days (Seifert, 1996). Primary clinical manifestations of brucellosis among livestock are related to the reproductive tract. In highly susceptible non-vaccinated pregnant cattle, abortion after the 5 th month of pregnancy is cardinal feature of the disease (Radostits et al., 2000). Retention of placenta and metritis are common sequels to abortion (Walker, 1999). Females usually abort only once, presumably due to acquired immunity. In general, abortion with retention of the placenta and the resultant metritis may cause prolonged calving interval and permanent infertility. In humans, the disease is characterized by a multitude of somatic complaints, such as fever, sweating, anorexia, malaise, weight loss, depression, headache and joint pains and is easily confused with malaria and influenza (Sewell and Brocklesby, 1990; WHO, 1997). The genus Brucella are Gram-negative, facultative, intracellular coccobacillary comprised of species based upon biochemical features and their correlation with preferred host species (OIE, 2000). This has been an area of controversy, with species status being revoked on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing, however subsequently, this decision was revoked (Osterman and Moriyon, 2006). Currently ten species are recognized including the better known six classical species comprised of B. abortus (cattle, biovars 1-6, and 9), B. melitensis (goats, sheep, biovars 1-3), B. suis (pigs, reindeer and hares, biovars 1-5), B. ovis (sheep), B. canis (dogs) and B. neotomae (desert wood rats). More recently, new members to the genus include B. ceti and B. pinnipedialis (dolphins/porpoises and seals respectively), B. microti (voles) and B. inopinata (reservoir undetermined) (Godfroid et al. 2011). *Corresponding author. E-mail: s.cutler@uel.ac.uk.