Brucella Canis Policy
Brucella canis, is an emerging public health risk due to the increase in importation of dogs particularly from Eastern European countries. Whilst the human risk is deemed low, the consequences of contracting the disease can be serious.
We therefore require all at-risk* dogs attending the clinic to provide results of SAT and iELISA serological tests to demonstrate that they are disease-free.
The serological tests must be performed by the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) and these take around 7-21 days to return. It requires a single blood sample (2ml serum), which should be submitted to your local APHA laboratory.
The test codes are as follows:
- Brucella canis SAT (TC1032) which tests for IgM.
- Brucella canis iELISA (TC0116) which tests for IgG.
If a dog was tested prior to importation, they still need to have a subsequent test a minimum of 3 months after arriving in the country. This is to allow time for anti-bodies to develop in cases that may have been exposed around the time of importation.
For an easy to follow flow-chart of our testing policy please click here.
We will see untested, asymptomatic, at-risk dogs on an urgent basis. We will perform a Brucella snap test (chargeable to the client) in-house with results obtained within minutes. Whilst useful, the snap test is not as sensitive as the APHA serological tests so a blood sample will also be sent to the APHA for urgent turnaround testing (also chargeable to the client). At-risk dogs will be barrier-nursed, if necessary, with additional personal protective equipment (chargeable to client).
For at-risk pets it is therefore sensible to have these tests performed prior to any potential events requiring hospitalisation.
The following links from the British Veterinary Association and the UK Government provides further information for owners:
Brucella canis: what animal owners need to know | British Veterinary Association
Brucella canis: information for the public and dog owners – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
*At-risk: Any dog that has originated from or visited the following areas:
North and South America, Asia, Africa, and eastern and central Europe.
