Germany and Tunisia: Brucella in cerebrospinal fluid

Real-Time PCR Detection of Brucella in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients of the Military Hospital of Tunisia, 2012-2017

S Mzoughi, R Ben Helal, M Diehl, G Zikeli, S Handrick, H Naija, M El Asli, F Barguellil, R Woelfel, and M Ben Moussa | Military Hospital of Tunisia, Microbiology, Tunis, Tunisia; Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Microbiology, Munich, Germany | 2018 | Global Partners in Biosecurity

Brucellosis is one of the most common zoonotic diseases worldwide. The study evaluated the presence of brucellosis in patients diagnosed with encephalitis and meningitis between 2012-2017. A real-time PCRs detecting the presence of Brucella species was established and validated on the Magnetic Induction Cycler (MIC). The cerebrospinal fluid was collected from patients hospitalized in diverse services of the military hospital of Tunisia. Despite clinical manifestation of Brucella being non-specific, this RT-PCR assay could be useful for more sensitive and rapid diagnosis than traditional methods.