[Meningitis as the first and only manifestation of brucellosis].

An 8-year-old girl with no previous symptoms was admitted to hospital with aseptic meningitis syndrome. The girls father is a shepherd and there was a familial antecedent of brucellosis, but the patient did not consume unpasteurized goat milk products nor did she take part in the care of the sheep stock. The clinical evolution did not follow the usual development of a viral or partially treated bacterial meningitis. Brucella melitensis was isolated in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood. Specific treatment (doxycycline and rifampin) produced favorable evolution. The patient may have been infected through the respiratory tract or mucous membranes, or by contact with clothes used by other members of the household who looked after infected animals. These forms of infection should be considered in family members who come into contact with the clothes of those caring for animals and with other utensils used by them. Meningitis as the only sign of brucellosis is exceptional both in children and in adults.