Meningoencephalomyelitis Caused by Brucella canis: A Case Report and Literature Review

• Published in: Internal Medicine Vol. 63; no. 12; pp. 1823 - 1827
• Main Authors: Ishihara, Masaki, Abe, Satoshi, Imaoka, Koichi, Nakagawa, Tomonori, Kadota, Katsuhiko, Oguro, Hiroaki, Nakajima, Hideto, Yamaguchi, Shuhei, Nagai, Atsushi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine 15.06.2024; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Aged; Agglutination; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Brucella canis; Brucella canis - isolation & purification; Brucellosis; Brucellosis - complications; Brucellosis - diagnosis; Brucellosis - drug therapy; Cerebrospinal fluid; Dogs; Doxycycline; Doxycycline - therapeutic use; Encephalomyelitis - diagnosis; Encephalomyelitis - drug therapy; Encephalomyelitis - microbiology; Epidemiology; fever of unknown origin; Humans; Literature reviews; Male; Meningoencephalitis - diagnosis; Meningoencephalitis - drug therapy; Meningoencephalitis - microbiology; meningoencephalomyelitis; neurobrucellosis; Pathogens; Streptomycin; Streptomycin - therapeutic use; fever of unknown origin; meningoencephalomyelitis; Brucella canis; doxycycline; streptomycin; neurobrucellosis
• ISSN: 0918-2918; 1349-7235; 1349-7235
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.2664-23

Human brucellosis, one of the most common zoonoses worldwide, is rare in Japan. Brucella canis is the specific pathogen of human brucellosis carried by dogs. According to an epidemiological study of B. canis infection in Japan, B. canis is the specific pathogen of human brucellosis in dogs. We herein report a rare case of meningoencephalomyelitis caused by B. canis in a 68-year-old Japanese man. Neurobrucellosis was diagnosed based on a serum tube agglutination test and abnormal cerebrospinal fluid findings. The patient was started on targeted treatment with a combination of doxycycline and streptomycin. Although extremely rare, neurobrucellosis should be considered in patients with a fever of unknown origin and unexplained neurological symptoms.