Executive summary

The growth of Brucella abortus, B. melitensis and B. suis in laboratory media was inhibited by several analogues of erythritol. The use of ery-thritol analogues in this manner was suggested by previous work on the localization of brucellas in brucellosis. The growth of B. abortus within bovine phagocytes was inhibited by analogues of erythritol under condi-tions in which streptomycin was ineffective. Although selected erythritol analogues did not eliminate brucellosis in guinea pigs, they produced a significant diminution in infection and showed no toxicity to the host