[Spondylodiscitis cause by Brucella suis]

In a 72-year-old Dutchman Brucellae suis spondylodiscitis TXII-LI was diagnosed, complicated by a paraspinal abscess, for which surgical drainage was carried out. The patient failed to recover after the combined antibiotic regimen of doxycycline, rifampicin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. There was good clinical improvement after a course of doxycycline and streptomycin, however. After a symptom-free period of 9 weeks a relapse occurred. The patient refused treatment and died 6 weeks later at home. The infection had probably been contracted after handling wild boar carcasses from eastern Europe.