Abstract
The zoonotic Mycobacterium bovis is a pathogen of significance in the dairy industry in many parts of the world. Although the pathogen primarily affects cattle, it has a wide host range including humans. A cross-sectional study was carried out in three agro-ecological zones of Tanzania, namely the southern highlands zone (SHZ), eastern zone (EZ) and northern zone (NZ), to examine the status of the disease in cattle, in order to inform control measures. A total of 391, 169 and 401 cattle were tested for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in the SHZ, EZ and NZ respectively using the Single Intradermal Comparative Cervical Tuberculin Test (SICTT). Results showed that the prevalence of bTB was higher (P<0.05) in EZ 2.37% (n = 169) compared to SHZ 1.3% (n=391) and NZ, where no positive result was recorded (n = 401). Thirty three cattle from SHZ and seven from EZ showed inconclusive results. In Kenya, 625 cattle from four sites within agro-pastoral and pastoral production systems were tested. In one area of Mwingi County, eastern Kenya, all the 161 cattle tested negative; while in the other three sites of Migori, in Nyanza, West Pokot and Laikipia in the Rift Valley, prevalence of 4-6% was obtained with SICTT. Bovine TB occurs in the region and may pose a public health threat through occupational activities and/or consumption of animal products, especially since no obvious clinical signs were observed in positive animals. Policy issues on how to deal with positive cases, creation of awareness on this important zoonotic disease, and a simple test to quickly identify sick animals in the field require urgent attention. Key Words: Agro-ecological zones, Mycobacterium bovis , Zoonoses
Highlights
Bovine tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium bovis bacterium, is found most commonly in cattle, but is present in other domestic animals
For all cattle screened in Tanzania and Kenya, there was no report of obvious clinical signs of bovine tuberculosis (bTB)
In Tanzania, prevalences of 2.37 and 1.28% were recorded in eastern zone (EZ) and southern highlands zone (SHZ), respectively (Table 3)
Summary
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis bacterium, is found most commonly in cattle, but is present in other domestic animals. It is zoonotic, meaning that it is transmissible between animals and humans (PAHO, 2001). Symptoms result from the formation of tuberculous nodules in the lungs or the lymph nodes, of the lungs and mammary glands; though can be found in any organ (OIE, 2009). The symptoms usually take months to develop in cattle, and infections can remain dormant for years, but are reactivated during periods of stress or in old age. Infected animals may develop a chronic, debilitating disease, whose severity varies with the dose of infectious organisms and individual immunity (OIE, 2009)
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