Abstract
The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) and to identify the mycobacterial species causing BTB in a dairy farm and research farm. Six hundred and eighty-five cattle were screened for BTB by using the Comparative intradermal tuberculin test (CTT). Positive reactors were slaughtered and carcasses were taken for isolation of mycobacterial species. This was followed by speciation of isolates using both standard conventional and molecular assays. Seventeen of the cattle were positive by CTT, giving a crude BTB prevalence of 2.48% among cattle from the two farms. Six of the 17 samples (35.30%) yielded positive acid-fast bacilli cultures and three of the isolates were identified as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), which were sub-divided into two Mycobacterium tuberculosis sensu scrito (Mtb) and one Mycobacterium africanum; the remaining three were Mycobacterium other than tuberculoisis (MOTT). Spoligotyping further characterised the two Mtb isolates as Ghana (spoligotype Data Base 4 number 53) and Latin American Mediterranean (LAM), whilst spoligotyping and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis typed the M. africanum as West African 1. Microseq 500 analysis identified two of the MOTT as Mycobacterium flavescens and Mycobacterium Moriokaense respectively, whilst the remaining one could not be identified. This study observed the prevalence of bovine TB among cattle from two farms in Ghana as 2.48% and confirms the public health importance of M. africanum as a pathogen in Ghana.
Highlights
Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a major public health problem that has been neglected over the years, especially in Sub Saharan Africa
Seventeen of the 685 (2.48%) cattle screened had a positive reaction to Mycobacterium bovis Purified Protein Derivative (PPD)
Thirteen of the positive reactors were from Farm B, giving a farm-specific prevalence of 4.56% (13/285), which was higher than that from Farm A (p = 0.003), which had four positives, giving a prevalence rate of 1.0% (4/400)
Summary
Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a major public health problem that has been neglected over the years, especially in Sub Saharan Africa. It is considered to be among the seven highly neglected zoonotic diseases of the world and has a major impact on international trade of animal products (Sahraoui et al 2009). Bovine Tuberculosis has been controlled in the developed countries due to the successful implementation of the test and slaughter (TS) policy of all infected cattle and compensation of affected farmers by governments. Sub Saharan Africa, which is home to more than half of the world’s cattle population, has been the hardest hit for various reasons. Countries in Africa are yet to fully implement the TS policy; this is mainly because of the lack of financial commitment on the part of governments to compensate farmers with infected animals
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