Swine brucellosis

Swine brucellosis is a contagious disease in pigs caused by the bacteria, Brucella suis. The disease spreads in semen during breeding and by ingestion, inhalation, or eye contact with bacteria in milk, reproductive fluids, placenta, aborted fetuses and urine. The disease primarily occurs in adult pigs which show non-specific infertility, abortion or lack of sexual drive. Boars can show signs of orchitis, lameness, arthritis, abscesses and posterior paralysis. There is no treatment for the disease and no effective vaccine.

Use as a biological weapon
The U.S. Army Chemical Corps selected Brucella suis as its first standardized biological agent in 1949. The M33 cluster bomb was designed to be used with B. suis.