Wildlife tuberculosis is a major economic and conservation concern globally. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), is the most common form of wildlife tuberculosis. In South Africa, to date, M. bovis infection has been detected in 24 mammalian wildlife species. The identification of M. bovis infection in wildlife species is essential to limit the spread and to control the disease in these populations, sympatric wildlife species and neighboring livestock. The detection of M. bovis-infected individuals is challenging as only severely diseased animals show clinical disease manifestations and diagnostic tools to identify infection are limited. The emergence of novel reagents and technologies to identify M. bovis infection in wildlife species are instrumental in improving the diagnosis and control of bTB. This review provides an update on the diagnostic tools to detect M. bovis infection in South African wildlife but may be a useful guide for other wildlife species.

Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) infects a wide range of wildlife species and has recently been discovered in the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). This study aimed to characterize the epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) in wild dogs in endemic areas of South Africa. We describe 12 TB cases in wild dogs from Kruger National Park (KNP), Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park (HiP) and a private facility in Hoedspruit from 2015 to 2017. Spoligotyping was used to identify the disease‐causing M. bovis strain in these cases, and whole‐genome sequencing was performed on 5 M. bovis isolates (KNP = 2 and HiP = 3) to investigate genomic diversity as well as the relationship to other isolates found in these geographical areas. Three distinct strain types were responsible for the M. bovis infections in this species. The SB0121 strain was observed in wild dogs from KNP, whereas SB0130 was responsible for infection in wild dogs from HiP. A novel strain, SB2681, was also identified in the HiP wild dogs. Whole‐genome sequence analysis suggests that different infection sources exist among these wild dogs and that inter‐species transmission most likely occurred between wildlife predators and prey located within shared geographical areas. This study highlights the importance of regular disease surveillance to identify and characterize potential threats for successful control of infection and protection of endangered species.