Advances in Isolation, Identification and Application of Brucella Phages

Brucellosis, a globally distributed zoonotic infectious disease, continues to cause severe economic losses and health risks for global livestock industries and public health systems. The current global brucellosis prevention and control system suffers from multiple deficiencies. Intracellular Brucella are difficult to eliminate efficiently with antibiotics, so brucellosis faces a high recurrence rate alongside concerning multidrug resistance. Chemical disinfectants may also cause environmental pollution and corrosion, whereas phages show high host specificity and are capable of autonomous replication and amplification inside viable host cells. Phage typing is an established approach that has long contributed to the identification, typing and traceability of Brucella and to epidemiological investigations. By contrast, the use of phages for rapid detection, therapy, and environmental disinfection remains largely experimental or prospective: laboratory studies have reported advantages in rapid detection and in environmental disinfection under controlled conditions, but efficacy across farm environments has not yet been established, and therapeutic applications are still at an early stage. This review summarizes relevant literature on Brucella phages retrieved from major biomedical databases, encompassing research on strain isolation, characterization, and diagnosis, as well as prevention and control strategies, and provides a systematic overview of existing research progress. By assessing their advantages, disadvantages and existing technical limitations, this paper reviews their application prospects in rapid pathogen detection and novel prevention and control strategies. Future research should incorporate the One Health framework and conduct interdisciplinary phage research. Centered on integrated whole-process prevention and control demands, these efforts may help mitigate brucellosis-related public health risks and livestock economic losses.