Serology for brucellosis would be the name of the test used when examining antibodies against Brucella. Brucella is the name given to the bacteria which is responsible for a disease known as brucellosis. This infectious disease is the result of the individual having contact with various animals that have this bacteria. Besides domesticated animals like dogs, Brucella may be found in pigs, cattle and other animals.
This test could be recommended if there is reason for your doctor to believe that you have brucellosis. However, this is extremely uncommon since the infection itself is not much heard of. To give you an idea, consider that in all of the United States, you will typically find less than two hundred instances of this disease.
There is no preparation when looking for Brucella antibodies via a test. This is a simple blood test to seek out Brucella antibodies in serum or blood.
Since this Brucella antibody test is typically a blood test, it would be taken from the subject's vein. The usual antiseptic is used along with the elastic band. Not a lot of blood is needed to identify the Brucella antibodies. The pain or stinging sensation would be just like that of a regular test. A laboratory is then employed to identify any of the antibodies against Brucella in the collected sample. In the case of Brucella antibodies, the serum agglutination test (that is, SAT) would be commonly used since this method of testing is the most uncomplicated one. If the test result is normal, it means that Brucella antibodies were not identified. One should be cautious even with this normal result since few antibodies to Bruscella are likely to be produced in the initial period. This time period could be a couple of days after being exposed to this antigen to possibly weeks later.
For this reason, even if the serology for brucellosis shows a normal result, if there is reason to suspect this problem, the serology test may have to be taken again some days later. This could be a matter of 10 to 14 days so as to check for a possible rise in antibodies. The problem with this Brucella antibody test is that false positive results are possible due to other bacterial presence. For instance, Francisella as well as Yersinia are two bacteria that could cause this result.