Ethiopia is a country with a large potential of livestock production with the greatest count made by cattle though overall production and income generation is below than optimum due to different reasons from which brucellosis comes at front. Therefore, the objective of this article is to review brucellosis and its importance in Ethiopia. The disease is an infectious type characterized by affecting ruminants and human beings as a terminal host. It results in inefficient reproductive performance and abortion and challenges cross breeding and improvement of milk production. Biotype 1 of Gram-negative coccobacillus Brucella abortus, a bluish colony under microscopy, is responsible for 85% of the diseases. The bacterium is an obligate intracellular organism able to remains stable for long periods and transmitted between different hosts at cold and moist environment. The transmission is by direct or indirect contact with the excreta of infected animals mainly oral route and influenced by the management strategy, host range. The disease is found to be distributed throughout Ethiopia with a considerable prevalence both in intensive and extensive management systems. Pathogen prefers the reproductive system and the lymphoid organs where the erythritol is excessively found and characterized clinically by the late-stage abortion of pregnant animals. Diagnosis is based on the tissue culture of samples within a biosafety level 3. Treating the positive animals is not economical and it is better to control and prevent by vaccination using strain19 and RB51 variants. The disease is important due to treatment and prevention costs and its zoonotic nature. Therefore, brucellosis is of a great concern due to its impact on health and economy of the country and prevention strategy should come as a primary measure to it.

Keywords: Brucellosis; Brucella abortus; Zoonosis