An Abattoir Survey of Bovine Tuberculosis in the Karamoja Region of Uganda

Abstract

SUMMARY An abattoir survey of Karamoja-type zebu, which had previously been subjected to the single comparative intradermal tuberculin test, showed that tuberculous lesions were present in 75 of the 281 (27.0 per cent) cattle examined. Lesions were most common in the retropharyngeal lymph nodes, the lungs, and the bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes. Twenty-one isolates of mycobacteria were obtained; twenty were identified as Mycobacterium bovis, and the remaining isolate was identified as an atypical mycobacterium. There was no simple relationship between the results of the tuberculin test and the post mortem findings.