Abstract
BackgroundBovine tuberculosis is among the primary zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis which has significant impact on the health of livestock and human. It has been significantly a cause for great economic loss in animal production.MethodologyA cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2014 to June 2016 on 315 cattle in selected areas of eastern Ethiopia, aiming to estimate the occurrence of bovine tuberculosis using comparative intradermal tuberculin skin test and assess cattle owners’ awareness on its public health implication. Random sampling method was applied in order to select animals from farm/household and associated risk factors were recorded before purified protein derivative (PPD) injection. Forty three farm/household owners of tuberculin tested animals were interviewed using pre-tested structured questionnaires.ResultsThe overall prevalence of bovine tuberculosis was 20.3% (n = 64) in dairy cattle at recommended cut off > 4 mm. From a total of 43 farms/households tested, 22 were positive; each farm exhibited at least one tuberculin positive reactor animal with a total herd level prevalence of 51.2%. The prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in individual animal level was significantly different (χ2 = 45.2; P-value = 0.000) in different sites with a higher prevalence (50%) in Dire Dawa. Farming system, herd size and other risk factors were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with bovine tuberculosis occurrence. Of the total interviewed farm owners, only 33% had the knowledge of or had heard about bovine tuberculosis and 23% respondents were aware of the zoonotic importance of the disease. More than 50% of the interviewees had shown their preference of raw milk consumption. Out of the total interviewed households, 3 (7%) farm workers had TB cases that had direct contact with the animals.ConclusionThe study showed bovine tuberculosis is highly prevalent. Associated risk factors contributed to the prevalence of the disease in cattle and its transmission. Moreover, the majority of cattle owners lack awareness about the disease and its public health significance. Awareness rising about the disease, its transmission and zoonotic implication is of great importance for reduction and control measures. Evidence of tuberculosis patient farm attendants calls also for further detail investigation.
Highlights
A close interaction between animals and humans primarily contributes to the transmission of infectious zoonotic diseases between them [1]
Bovine tuberculosis is a common zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis which affects a wide range of animals and humans [2, 3]
Animal level risk factors associated with bovine tuberculosis prevalence The prevalence of bovine tuberculin positivity at individual animal level was 20.3% at cut-off > 4 mm
Summary
A close interaction between animals and humans primarily contributes to the transmission of infectious zoonotic diseases between them [1]. Bovine tuberculosis is widely distributed around the world with significant economic impact on the livestock production sector [4,5,6] It has been recorded as the most recurrent cause of zoonotic tuberculosis in human [7]. In developing countries in Africa, it represents a potential health threat to both humans and animals This is mainly because closely 82% of the human and 85% of cattle population live in regions where BTB is highly prevalent [9]. Bovine tuberculosis is among the primary zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis which has significant impact on the health of livestock and human It has been significantly a cause for great economic loss in animal production
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