Abstract
BackgroundInfection of livestock with bovine tuberculosis (bTB; Mycobacterium bovis) is of major economical concern in many countries; approximately 15 000 to 20 000 cattle are infected per year in Ireland. The objective of this study was to quantify the genetic variation for bTB susceptibility in Irish dairy and beef cattle.MethodsA total of 105 914 cow, 56 904 heifer and 21 872 steer single intra-dermal comparative tuberculin test records (i.e., binary trait) collected from the years 2001 to 2010 from dairy and beef herds were included in the analysis. Only animal level data pertaining to periods of herd bTB infection were retained. Variance components for bTB were estimated using animal linear and threshold mixed models and co-variances were estimated using sire linear mixed models.ResultsUsing a linear model, the heritability for susceptibility to bTB in the entire dataset was 0.11 and ranged from 0.08 (heifers in dairy herds) to 0.19 (heifers in beef herds) among the sub-populations investigated. Differences in susceptibility to bTB between breeds were clearly evident. Estimates of genetic correlations for bTB susceptibility between animal types (i.e., cows, heifers, steers) were all positive (0.10 to 0.64), yet different from one. Furthermore, genetic correlations for bTB susceptibility between environments that differed in herd prevalence of bTB ranged from 0.06 to 0.86 and were all different from one.ConclusionsGenetic trends for bTB susceptibility observed in this study suggest a slight increase in genetic susceptibility to bTB in recent years. Since bTB is of economic importance and because all animals are routinely tested at least once annually in Ireland and some other countries, the presence of genetic variation for bTB susceptibility suggests that bTB susceptibility should be included in a national breeding program to halt possible deterioration in genetic susceptibility to bTB infection.
Highlights
Bovine tuberculosis is an infectious chronic respiratory disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis
Bovine tuberculosis is of economic importance [3,7], which justifies its consideration for inclusion in the breeding goal
The annual testing of whole herds for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and the storage of these data in a national database, as well as access to pedigree information, animal movements and other systematic environmental effects pertaining to the test, imply that routine genetic evaluations are possible for bTB if genetic variation in susceptibility to bTB exists
Summary
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious chronic respiratory disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis. Infection of livestock with bTB has an estimated global cost of €2 billion annually [1], due mostly to the lack of bTB control in developing countries, where infection is endemic, resulting in reduced productivity of livestock. The primary cost of bTB infection in developed countries is the control of bTB, with estimated spends by the Irish and UK governments in 2010 and 2011 of €63 million and €179 million [2], respectively. Bovine number of animal infections per year in excess of 30 000 [2]. Infection of livestock with bovine tuberculosis (bTB; Mycobacterium bovis) is of major economical concern in many countries; approximately 15 000 to 20 000 cattle are infected per year in Ireland. The objective of this study was to quantify the genetic variation for bTB susceptibility in Irish dairy and beef cattle
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