Subacute Meningitis: A Rare Presentation of Brucellosis

A young male adult presented with a two-week-long history of myoarthralgia, vomiting, febrile sensation, holocranial headache with photophobia, neck stiffness, anorexia, and weight loss. He worked as a butcher in a local slaughterhouse, and two of his coworkers had recently been diagnosed with brucellosis. On his fourth visit to the Emergency Department (ED), fever was observed for the first time. He was admitted for subacute meningitis. A lumbar puncture revealed high protein concentration, low glucose concentration, and pleocytosis without predominance. He was started on empirical treatment for acute meningitis and neurobrucellosis with ceftriaxone, doxycycline, and rifampin. There was a complete symptom remission over one week. The etiological investigation yielded a positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum Rose Bengal Tests (RBTs), as well as a positive anti-Brucella IgG titer, leading to a final diagnosis of neurobrucellosis. After nine months of antimicrobial therapy and two years of follow-up, the patient remained asymptomatic.