UK’s first dog-to-human Brucella canis case encourages obligatory testing

A requirement for testing has been emphasised after a case of a German shepherd cross-breed imported from Belarus transmitting to its foster carer and three of her dogs, vets said.
Following the UK’s first dog-to-human and dog-to-dog transmission, vets have renewed calls for obligatory testing for Brucella canis, a bacterial condition.
The potential importation of B canis, spreading between animals, and it becoming established in the UK has been of great concern for parasitologists and bodies, such as the European Scientific Counsel Companion Animal Parasite (ESCCAP), for quite some time.
Recently, a case has come to light of transmission of B canis to sixty-one-year-old Wendy Hayes from a pregnant German shepherd cross-breed she fostered in March. She was identified to have contracted B canis and was hospitalised for two weeks, while her four dogs, three of which contracted it, were euthanised.
B canis, a reportable disease, was the primary concern of APHA and Defra when commercial pet imports from Ukraine and neighbouring countries were put on hold in April.
Wendy Hayes’ case is reportedly the first to involve dog-to-human and dog-to-dog transmission of B canis in the UK. Guideline director for ESCCAP UK and Ireland, Ian Wright, calls for testing B canis in all imported dogs to be obligatory.
Vet Ian Wright stated: “Assuming it’s accurate, this would be the first confirmed case of someone contracting Brucella canis in the UK from their dog and the first case of dog-to-dog transmission in the UK. This is a tragic story and one we’ve feared happening in the UK as cases have been identified in imported dogs. The zoonotic risk is low but, as this case demonstrates, very real. Ideally, testing should be compulsory for dogs being imported into the UK from endemic countries, but until this happens, the most important thing that vets can do is recommend testing to owners of imported pets and charities.”