Bovine tuberculosis in one caftle herd in Ibadan in Nigeria

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis was investigated in one private herd with 171 caftle after five cases were suspected to be tuberculous following post mortem examination. Using the intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test 18 (10.5%) animals (ages from 2 to 12 years) were positive: 11 animals of N'dama breed and seven animals of White Fulani (i.e. Bunaji) breed; 17 female and one male animal. In all 11 randomly selected positive reactors, a spectrum of tuberculous lesions affecting the lungs, spleen, heart, liver, and the lymph nodes were observed. All the smear samples obtained were positive for acid-fast bacilli; cultural isolation confirmed the growth of mycobacteria on pyruvate-enriched Loewenstein-Jensen medium, which were identified by molecular typing to be Mycobacterium bovis. This study demonstrates widespread infection in this caftle herd and potential risk of infection for the human population with M. bovis.