Bovine TB infection status in cattle in Great Britain in 2015

Harris, Kate; Brunton, Lucy A.; Brouwer, Adam; Garcia, M. P. Romero; Gibbens, J. C.; Smith, Noel H.; Upton, Paul

doi:10.1136/vr.j759

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis is the most serious endemic disease affecting livestock in England and Wales [ 1 ]. Scientific evidence suggests that the European badger ( Meles meles ) is one of the most significant wildlife reservoirs of M. bovis in parts of the UK and Ireland [ 2 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lactic acid Bacteria isolated from European badgers (Meles meles) reduce the viability and survival of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine and influence the immune response to BCG in a human macrophage model

et al. 2018

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BackgroundBovine tuberculosis (bTB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis is the most serious endemic disease affecting livestock in the UK. The European badger (Meles meles) is the most important wildlife reservoir of bTB transmission to cattle, making eradication particularly difficult. In this respect, oral vaccination with the attenuated M. bovis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been suggested as a wide-scale intervention to reduce bTB infection in badgers. However, experimental studies show variable protection. Among the possibilities for this variation is that the resident gut bacteria may influence the success of oral vaccination in badgers; either through competitive exclusion and/or inhibition, or via effects on the host immune system. In order to explore this possibility, we have tested whether typical gut commensals such as Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) have the capacity to impact on the viability and survival rate of BCG and to modulate the immune response to BCG using an in vitro model.ResultsTwelve LAB isolated from badger faeces displayed inhibitory activity to BCG that was species-dependent. Weissella had a bacteriostatic effect, whereas isolates of enterococci, lactobacilli and pediococci had a more bactericidal activity. Furthermore, BCG-induced activation of the pro-inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB in human THP-1 macrophages was modulated by LAB in a strain-dependent manner. Most pediococci enhanced NF-κB activation but one strain had the opposite effect. Interestingly, isolates of enterococci, lactobacilli and weissella had different effects as immunomodulators of BCG-induced macrophage responses as some had no significant influence on NF-κB activation, but others increased it significantly.ConclusionsOur in vitro results show that LAB isolated from badgers exhibit significant inhibitory activity against BCG and influence the immune activation mediated by BCG in a human macrophage assay. These findings suggest that gut commensal bacteria could play a role in influencing the outcome of oral BCG vaccination. Inactivated cells of LAB, or LAB that are bacteriostatic but have a synergistic immunostimulatory effect with BCG, could be potential adjuvants to be used for oral vaccination in badgers. Further work is needed to take into account the complex nature of the gut microbiome, specific immunity of the badger and the in vivo context.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12866-018-1210-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lactic acid Bacteria isolated from European badgers (Meles meles) reduce the viability and survival of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine and influence the immune response to BCG in a human macrophage model

et al. 2018

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“…But despite these controls, the incidence of TB in cattle in England has shown a generally increasing trend over the last thirty years. In 2015, around 5% of cattle herds were under movement restriction due to a TB incident in England, and in the high risk area of England, this rose to around 11% (Harris et al., 2017). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the effects of the first 2 years of industry‐led badger culling in England on the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in 2013–2015

Brunton

Donnelly

O’Connor

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Culling badgers to control the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (TB) between this wildlife reservoir and cattle has been widely debated. Industry‐led culling began in Somerset and Gloucestershire between August and November 2013 to reduce local badger populations. Industry‐led culling is not designed to be a randomized and controlled trial of the impact of culling on cattle incidence. Nevertheless, it is important to monitor the effects of the culling and, taking the study limitations into account, perform a cautious evaluation of the impacts. A standardized method for selecting areas matched to culling areas in factors found to affect cattle TB risk has been developed to evaluate the impact of badger culling on cattle TB incidence. The association between cattle TB incidence and badger culling in the first 2 years has been assessed. Descriptive analyses without controlling for confounding showed no association between culling and TB incidence for Somerset, or for either of the buffer areas for the first 2 years since culling began. A weak association was observed in Gloucestershire for Year 1 only. Multivariable analysis adjusting for confounding factors showed that reductions in TB incidence were associated with culling in the first 2 years in both the Somerset and Gloucestershire intervention areas when compared to areas with no culling (incidence rate ratio (IRR): 0.79, 95% CI: 0.72–0.87, p < .001 and IRR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.34–0.51, p < .001, respectively). An increase in incidence was associated with culling in the 2‐km buffer surrounding the Somerset intervention area (IRR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.09–1.75, p = .008), but not in Gloucestershire (IRR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.77–1.07, p = .243). As only 2 intervention areas with 2 years of data are available for analysis, and the biological cause–effect relationship behind the statistical associations is difficult to determine, it would be unwise to use these findings to develop generalizable inferences about the effectiveness of the policy at present.

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“…Descriptive statistics including herd incidence, herd prevalence and incident duration were measured using TB surveillance data routinely collected by the APHA. This report also updates the previous annual summaries for 2012 to 2017 published in Vet Record 3–8. The aim is to provide a concise description of the epidemiology of TB in cattle in GB on an annual basis and to put the surveillance data into context.…”

Section: Herd Incidencementioning

confidence: 83%