Millions of Malaria Diagnoses May Actually Be Brucellosis
Texas A&M University
Brucellosis is a serious and often neglected disease endemic to many low- and middle-income countries around the world. The disease spreads to people from major livestock species, as well as through consumption of unpasteurized dairy products. Because it shares many of the same clinical symptoms as malaria — including fever and joint pain — it can be misdiagnosed.
Until recently, scientists have not known how often brucellosis is mistaken for malaria or other febrile illnesses, but new research from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) has discovered that as many as seven million people worldwide may receive a misdiagnosis each year — vastly increasing the number of people estimated to have the disease.
If a patient is misdiagnosed with malaria, any treatment they receive will be ineffective because the two diseases have different causes — malaria is caused by parasites spread through mosquitoes while brucellosis is caused by bacteria spread through animals.
This not only means that millions of individuals are suffering without proper treatment but also that most affected countries’ doctors, veterinarians, and policymakers lack awareness of the disease’s characteristics and prevalence.
The VMBS research team, led by associate professor Dr. Angela Arenas, is now focused on providing information about the disease to educate these health professionals and leaders as well as community members in several countries.
A Life-Altering Disease
Brucellosis spreads to people from major livestock species, including cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats, as well as through consumption of unpasteurized dairy products. If the disease is not treated early, it becomes a chronic condition that can lead to neurological issues, cardiovascular issues, and potentially death.
“We call it a neglected disease because it’s underdiagnosed and there’s not enough funding to address it,” Arenas said. “Veterinarians and physicians don’t know about the disease, so they don’t know what to look for or how to diagnose it.”
Brucellosis symptoms can mimic malaria, typhoid, or even food poisoning, leading many people to get misdiagnosed multiple times before finally receiving the correct treatment, if they ever do. “One of the major issues is that malaria is such a prevalent disease in many of these countries; it has hundreds of millions of cases per year,” said Dr. Christopher Laine, an assistant research scientist and epidemiologist in Arenas’ lab. “It’s very easy for brucellosis to get lost in that mix. But if just a small fraction of those diagnosed with malaria actually have brucellosis, you increase the incidence by millions.”
Refining the Numbers
Arenas’ team has visited several countries affected by brucellosis over the years, including Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon, South Africa, and Armenia. The researchers collaborated with Dr. Valen Johnson, a Distinguished Professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Statistics and former dean of the College of Science, to develop statistical models that predict brucellosis incidence based on proven rates in similar countries.
“For example, Kenya had information from before they prioritized the disease — when there was no brucellosis diagnosis — and then after they prioritized it,” Laine said. “Overall, these countries found that 4–11% of their malaria cases were actually brucellosis. We took brucellosis rates from places like that and applied them to places that were very similar.”
When developing their final estimates, the team determined that there was likely a .25–4% increase to the global incidence rate of brucellosis — which would escalate the number of affected individuals by 2.1 million to 7 million people worldwide.
“We wanted to be very conservative in our estimates while still showing physicians out there that they need to start paying attention to brucellosis,” Laine said. “Because, even if they’re only wrong once out of 400 times, that still equals millions of cases overall.”
A Real-World Impact
While the team is continuing its research — including by studying bacteria prevalence in raw milk and testing individuals it suspects to be misdiagnosed — it will also continue its education and outreach missions.
“We’re focused not only on finding the problem but also telling the policymakers and stakeholders what to do next,” Arenas said. “We need to create awareness among them that the brucellosis problem is huge compared to what they were thinking.”
Thanks in part to funding from the United States Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Agriculture, the team works with small-scale farmers, professors, physicians, and public health personnel in affected countries to educate them about the disease’s symptoms and how it spreads. Veterinarians also play a major role in controlling the spread of the disease.
“If we control the disease in animals, we control the disease in humans,” Arenas said.
The team is also providing new training opportunities for the next generation of researchers in affected countries who are hoping to dedicate their careers to fighting brucellosis and similar diseases.
“Right now, our team has three PhD students from Cameroon who got all their degrees in Africa but came here to get trained,” Arenas said. “We’re focused on sustainability and empowering these individuals so that once we leave their countries, they can fight the disease themselves.”
Brucellosis also holds importance for currently unaffected countries like the US because of how quickly it spreads and its potential use as a bioweapon. “If we are not prepared and we don’t have all the international stakeholders aware of and creating countermeasures to prevent, detect, and control the disease, it could have a huge societal impact at the global level,” Arenas said. “It’s very important to control it there so it doesn’t come back here, either naturally or in a nefarious manner.”
The Future of Methane Reduction: Breakthrough Technologies Take the Lead
by Karen Bohnert, Bovine Veterinarian
In a significant leap forward for sustainable agriculture, the groundbreaking Methane Eradication Photochemical System (MEPS) has successfully demonstrated its capability to eliminate dilute methane emissions from dairy barns at a commercial scale. This pioneering field demonstration marks the first real-world validation of a scalable technology that addresses methane emissions from livestock operations.
Methane poses a substantial environmental challenge, with a global warming potential 84 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. As livestock are responsible for approximately 30% of global anthropogenic methane emissions, the importance of MEPS in the dairy industry’s journey to net-zero emissions cannot be overstated.
The US dairy industry is actively working to reduce methane emissions through various strategies, including:
• Improved manure management
• Enhanced feed efficiency
• Innovative technologies like anaerobic digesters. These efforts are part of a broader commitment to achieving netzero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Field Trials in Denmark: A Major Milestone
The large-scale trial was conducted at the Hofmansgave Foundation farm in Denmark. The MEPS unit, housed in a standard 40' shipping container, efficiently processed air samples from a 250-cow open-sided dairy barn. This trial signifies a significant
transition from laboratory prototypes to a commercially viable solution.
“The system successfully oxidized methane from dairy barn ventilation air across varying concentration levels, proving that MEPS can deliver consistent performance under real agricultural conditions with co-pollutants present. Across the initial tests, up to 90% of inlet air methane was eradicated over a methane concentration range of 4.3 ppm to 44 ppm,” says Matthew S. Johnson, co-founder and chief science officer at Ambient Carbon.
Industry Support and Collaboration
The support of Danone North America played an instrumental role in this field trial, reflecting their commitment to innovation that strengthens farm longevity and the supply chain. Ambient Carbon, in collaboration with Benton Group Dairies, works toward validating MEPS’ performance and supporting sustainable farming practices.
Jessie Copeland, head of regenerative agriculture at Danone North America, expresses satisfaction with the initial results.
“The success in Denmark paves the way for further strategic collaborations, reinforcing our shared commitment to enhancing farmer and supply chain resiliency,” he says.
Chris Williams, conservation lead at Benton Dairies, adds: “We are excited to work alongside Ambient Carbon to push the boundaries of sustainable milk production.”
Beyond methane eradication, MEPS also removes ammonia and barn odors, generating fertilizer as a by-product and enhancing resource efficiency through its closed-loop circular technology.
The Path Forward
As emphasized by Dave Kenney, CEO of Ambient Carbon, proving MEPS technology at scale is a crucial step toward delivering a commercial solution by 2026. MEPS is poised to become the only effective and commercially viable solution for methane concentrations below 1,000 ppm — which is typical of dairy barns. Its modular design and non-invasive nature allow flexible deployment across various barn sizes without affecting farm operations.
While the field trial focused on dairy barn emissions, the MEPS system holds promise for other sources of methane emissions, including manure storage, biogas plants and wastewater treatment facilities — potentially expanding its climate impact.
The successful demonstration of MEPS underscores a pivotal moment for agricultural sustainability, potentially transforming the dairy industry and beyond, while reinforcing the importance of innovation in combating climate change.
