Canine Brucellosis - Do I really need to test my dog for this?

I have a few things to share about brucellosis testing. I have lots of questions about why we should test for this disease - do we really need to, isn't it a disease we don't see anymore? Yes, we need to test and no, it is still around.
1. It can be transmitted in non-sexual ways so even virgin dogs and bitches can have it.

2. It is communicable to people - and it is a nasty disease to have, not to mention most doctors won't think to look for it, so it may go undiagnosed.

3. When you have it in your dog, the recommendation is euthanasia, or at the best and least, spaying or neutering. So much for the lines you have spent 30 years developing.

4. It is still a disease we see. It has not been eradicated.

5. The remote bitch cannot transmit it to the stud dog, but if she becomes positive at some point and she wasn't negative before the breeding, who do you point the finger at if YOU didn't test her?

6. Is a $60 test cheap? Relative to losing your health and your dogs lives, I would say so but that is just me. I have watched a client lose her life's work. She would take it all back for $60.

7. It also can withstand freezing so frozen semen can transmit it. We need to be sure we test our stud dogs so we don't infect a new generation of dogs many years from now.

8. I especially worry about well-meaning rescue participants - that may pick up a dog, male or female, being retired from a breeding program. You may want to ask why she is leaving the commercial breeder - well, this may be why, not because she has had her share of litters but because she can't get pregnant or stay pregnant. Don't throw away your breeding program for lack of testing the rescue dog before he or she comes into your house and yard and contaminates it with this dangerous bacteria. Stop at your vet and test him or her before they enter your household.

Talk to your local vet or repro vet about this - be safe.