Karl-Erik Johansson (BVF, SLU) is preparing agar plates with Brucella canis for photography in the safety lab at SVA . Photo: Lennart Melin (SVA).
Samples from a bitch which gave birth to stillborn pups were analyzed during the summer 2011 at the Department of Bacteriology of the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) in Uppsala. Brucellosis caused by Brucella canis was suspected and the isolate was, therefore, sent to the EU Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis in France for further characterization, where Brucella canis was confirmed.
The bitch had been imported from Poland, where it was mated with different male dogs that were suspected of having infected the bitch. Brucellosis is a serious disease, which can be transmitted to humans (a so-called zoonosis) and the infected dog was euthanized to prevent further transmission.
Pictures of the strain of B. canis that caused the first Swedish case of brucellosis on a dog can be found on the page for Brucella canis at VetBact.