Abstract
BackgroundControl of animal tuberculosis (TB) through vaccination has emerged as a long-term strategy to complement test and slaughter control strategy. A pilot trial under field conditions was conducted in a goat herd with high TB prevalence to assess the efficacy of the Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine.ResultsTwenty-three goat kids vaccinated with BCG and other 22 unvaccinated control kids were euthanized at 18 months post-vaccination. Gross pathological and histopathological examination of target tissues was performed for detection of tuberculous lesions and assessment of vaccine efficacy. Mycobacterial culture and DNA detection were used to confirm Mycobacterium caprae infection. Vaccination significantly reduced the number of animals with TB lesions compared to unvaccinated controls (35% and 77%, respectively; P < 0.01). This reduction was even higher if only extra-pulmonary infection was considered (17% and 68%, respectively; P < 0.001).ConclusionsThis trial demonstrates that BCG vaccination of goats can significantly reduce the TB lesion rates in high disease exposure conditions, indicating that vaccination could contribute to the control of TB in domestic goats.
Highlights
Control of animal tuberculosis (TB) through vaccination has emerged as a long-term strategy to complement test and slaughter control strategy
Animal tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), mainly M. bovis and M. caprae, which affects a wide range of domestic and wild animals
The proportion of animals with TB lesions was significantly higher in unvaccinated (77%, 95% CI: 54–91) than in vaccinated goats (35%, 95% CI: 17–57; P < 0.01)
Summary
Control of animal tuberculosis (TB) through vaccination has emerged as a long-term strategy to complement test and slaughter control strategy. A pilot trial under field conditions was conducted in a goat herd with high TB prevalence to assess the efficacy of the Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine. TB in goats causes economic losses in endemic areas due to trade limitations, and depopulation of positive herds, when test and slaughter strategy fails [1, 2]. Vaccination may be a control option to reduce disease prevalence in animals in high-prevalent herds where the test and slaughter strategy could be inefficient, expensive. The efficacy of BCG in the field has been assessed in cattle [7, 11] and in wildlife TB hosts, such as possums or badgers [12, 13]. Our research group has recently demonstrated that BCG vaccination of goats affords a degree of protection against experimental challenge with M. caprae [14, 15]
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