An eight-year-old girl from Kottakkal in Malappuram district of Kerala died at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, recently after undergoing around two months of treatment for brucellosis.

• Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria belonging to Brucella species, which mainly infect cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dogs.
• It is also known as Malta fever or Mediterranean fever.
• Symptoms include fever, sweats, anorexia(psychological disorder in which one eats less due to fear of weight gain), headache and muscle pain.
• It is usually treated with antibiotics, including rifampin and doxycycline.
• Precaution includes avoiding unpasteurised dairy products and taking safety precautions such as wearing rubber gloves, gowns or aprons, when handling animals or working in a laboratory.

Other preventive measures include cooking meat properly, vaccinating domestic animals.