Abstract
Simple SummaryThe aim of the present work was to investigate the prevalence, spatial distribution, and temporal distribution of tuberculosis in 673 free-ranging Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) and cattle from Asturias (Atlantic Spain) during a 13-year follow-up. The study objective was to assess the role of badgers as a reservoir of tuberculosis for cattle and other sympatric wild species in the region. During the follow-up, 27/639 badgers (4.23%) were positive for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex based on bacterial isolation, while 160/673 (23.77%) were positive based on P22 ELISA. Badger infection was spatially and temporally associated with cattle herd infection.The present work investigated the prevalence, spatial distribution, and temporal distribution of tuberculosis (TB) in free-ranging Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) and cattle in Asturias (Atlantic Spain) during a 13-year follow-up. The study objective was to assess the role of badgers as a TB reservoir for cattle and other sympatric wild species in the region. Between 2008 and 2020, 673 badgers (98 trapped and 575 killed in road traffic accidents) in Asturias were necropsied, and their tissue samples were cultured for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) isolation. Serum samples were tested in an in-house indirect P22 ELISA to detect antibodies against the MTC. In parallel, data on MTC isolation and single intradermal tuberculin test results were extracted for cattle that were tested and culled as part of the Spanish National Program for the Eradication of Bovine TB. A total of 27/639 badgers (4.23%) were positive for MTC based on bacterial isolation, while 160/673 badgers (23.77%) were found to be positive with the P22 ELISA. The rate of seropositivity was higher among adult badgers than subadults. Badger TB status was spatially and temporally associated with cattle TB status. Our results cannot determine the direction of possible interspecies transmission, but they are consistent with the idea that the two hosts may exert infection pressure on each other. This study highlights the importance of the wildlife monitoring of infection and disease during epidemiological interventions in order to optimize outcomes.
Highlights
Animal tuberculosis (TB) is caused by infection with members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC), mainly M. bovis and, to a lesser extent, M. caprae
This study examined the prevalence of TB in free-ranging Eurasian badgers in Spain for a 13-year period, which was longer than a previous seven-year study [12]
In the present study, trapped animals and those killed in road traffic accidents were examined, with 4.23% badgers positive for MTC based on isolation and
Summary
Animal tuberculosis (TB) is caused by infection with members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC), mainly M. bovis and, to a lesser extent, M. caprae. Its main domestic reservoir is cattle, and eradication campaigns spanning more than four decades in developed countries including Spain have been quite but not totally successful [2]. Wildlife hosts are susceptible to M. bovis and can act as reservoirs of the infection for livestock. Badgers (Meles meles) and wild boars (Sus scrofa) are major wildlife reservoirs of M. bovis for bovine TB in several European countries. M. bovis-infected badgers have been found in Ireland [3], the United Kingdom (UK) [4], France [5,6], and Spain [7,8]; in Ireland and the UK, badgers are recognized as major reservoirs with the potential to transmit infection to local cattle herds [9,10]. Infection in wild boars has been described in France and Italy, as well as the southern and central Iberian Peninsula [5,11]
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