Symptoms of Brucellosis
Symptoms of brucellosis usually appear within two weeks of infection. Symptoms can appear from five days to several months after infection.
In early stage, symptoms may include:
- Malaise
- Lethargy
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Fever
- Chills
- Severe headache and backache
- Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
As it progresses, brucellosis causes a severe fever (104° F to 105° F). This fever occurs in the evening along with severe sweating. It becomes normal or near normal in the morning, and usually begins again at night.
This intermittent fever usually lasts 1 to 5 weeks, after which symptoms usually subside or disappear for two days to two weeks. Then the fever recurs. In some patients, this fever recurs only once. In others, the disease becomes chronic, and the fever recurs, subsides, and then recurs again repeatedly over months or years.
In later stages, brucellosis can cause:
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Abdominal pains
- Headache
- Backache
- Joint pain
- Weakness
- Irritability
- Insomnia
Patients usually recover within 2 to 5 weeks. Rarely, complications can develop. These may include:
- Abscesses within the liver or spleen
- Enlargement of the liver, spleen, or lymph nodes
- Inflammation and infection of organs in the body, such as:
Brucellosis is also believed to cause a high rate of miscarriage during early pregnancy in infected women.