Prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in different farming systems in the eastern zone of Tanzania

Abstract

The prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) infection in cattle was investigated in pastoral and intensive production systems in the eastern zone of Tanzania. The prevalence of BTB infection as determined by single comparative intradermal tuberculin test (SCITT) was 1.3%, whereas the non-specific infection prevalence was 6%. In the pastoral sector, the prevalences were 1 and 7%; under intensive systems, they were 2 and 6% for BTB and non-specific infections, respectively. The prevalences were significantly higher in the intensive than pastoral production systems. However, the prevalence of BTB infection was higher in the small-scale (3%) than in other production systems (0.6–1.1%). Non-specific infections were lowest in the small-scale dairy sector (4%) than in other dairy-production systems (6–11%). Out of 143 herds tested, 10 and 28% of herds in the intensive systems (small, medium and large farms) and 17 and 88% of the herds in the extensive system (pastoral farms) had both BTB and non-specific infections, respectively.