Vaccination of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) results in positive tuberculin skin test results in a dose-dependent fashion

Abstract

Mycobacterium bovis is the cause of tuberculosis in most mammalian species, most notably cattle and other members of the family Bovidae; however, many species of the family Cervidae are also susceptible. In North America, tuberculosis has been identified in both captive and free-ranging cervids. Captive cervids are tested for tuberculosis following many of the same guidelines applied to cattle, including intradermal tuberculin testing using M. bovis purified protein derivative (PPD). Both captive and free-ranging deer and elk have been implicated as the source of infection for many cattle herds. Vaccination with the human vaccine M. bovis BCG has been considered as one possible tool to aid in eradication of tuberculosis from cattle and both captive and free-ranging cervids. Studies in cattle have demonstrated that BCG vaccination can induce false positive intradermal tuberculin test reactions in some cattle. Similar findings have been reported for red deer. We orally vaccinated white-tailed deer with BCG and showed that vaccination can induce false positive skin test reactions in some deer and that the rate of false positive reactions is greater with a higher vaccine dose.