[Surveillance of human brucellosis in France (author's transl)]

Brucellosis is an anthropozoonosis, transmissable between animals and from animals to man. There is no interhuman transmission. Practically all domestic and wild animals are sensitive to various species of Brucella which explains the world-wide occurrence of the disease. Animals transmit the disease to man by direct contact (giving rise most often to professional disease which accounts for approximately 2/3 of the cases in France), and by way of food consumption (milk, cheese). The discovery of host animals may guide the diagnosis of human cases but more often the diagnosis of a human case reveals the existence of a host animal. Among the serological tests which help to follow the course of the human disease, the importance of the card test and of the immunofluorescence reaction are especially emphasized. The incidence of the human disease is difficult to determine: from the number of cases notified, the number of cases actually diagnosed can be estimated (from 3 to 5 times greater in France); however the true number of cases is very difficult to estimate owing to the large number of asymptomatic or atypical cases.