Skin Manifestations Associated with Brucellosis

Abstract

Brucellosis is a zoonotic infectious disease of worldwide distribution and is still endemic in some developing countries. Brucellosis is a systemic disease in which any organ or system of the body can be involved. The most commonly affected systems are the locomotor, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, haematological, cardiovascular, respiratory, and central nervous systems. Cutaneous manifestations are rare in brucellosis and the lesions are not specific to the disease. Skin involvement is reported to range between 0.4% and 17.0% of the patients with brucellosis. The cutaneous manifestations in brucellosis are seen because of the direct inoculation of bacteria into the skin, hypersensitivity phenomena, deposition of immune complexes in the skin, and invasion of the skin via a haematogenous route of spread of the micro-organism. Papulonodular and maculopapular eruptions, and erythema nodosum-like lesions are the most frequently encountered cutaneous lesions in brucellosis. Brucellosis should be kept in mind by clinicians in the diagnosis of patients with complaints of fever and eruptions, especially in endemic regions.