B. melitensis infection in sheep and goats is an infectious, rather than a venereal, disease of sexually mature animals with abortion late in pregnancy as the principal sympton. It closely resembles B. abortus infection in cattle. All breeds of goat seem to be more or less equally susceptible, but the susceptibility of different breeds of sheep varies enormously. Non-pregnant animals are susceptible as well as those that are pregnant and suffer chronic infections that may be inapparent and thus dangerous epidemiologically. Colonisation of the udder usually occurs. The main source of infection for animal to animal transmission is the vast numbers of bacteria emitted at and following an infected birth, these usually infect the new host via the naso-pharynx. Some peculiarities of sheep and goat husbandry, such as communual grazing on summer pastures, make control more difficult. Effective measures are, nevertheless, available for control and eradication