Bovine tuberculosis surveillance system 2valuation, Greater-Accra region, Ghana, 2006-2011

Abstract

IntroductionBovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic, zoonotic, multi-species disease of cattle caused by Mycobacterium bovis. In developed countries, effective surveillance and enforcement of regulations on bTB control resulted in significant reduction of infections in cattle and hence, humans. However, in developing countries, weak surveillance systems affect accurate and timely reporting of bTB in humans and cattle. In Ghana, transhumance movement of cattle increases the risk of bTB importation and spread, however, the extent to which surveillance detects bTB is unknown. We therefore evaluated the bTB surveillance system in the Greater-Accra Region to determine its performance and assessed its attributes.MethodsWe interviewed stakeholders, and reviewed bTB surveillance data for all ten districts in the region from 2006-2011 using the CDC Guidelines for Evaluation of public health surveillance systems.ResultsFrom 2006-2011, bTB was suspected in 284/244,576 (0.12%) cattle slaughtered, of which 7/284 (2.5%) were submitted for laboratory confirmation and all tested positive. Predictive value positive was 100%. There is no standard case definition which guides bTB detection. Fifty percent of carcasses slip through inspection, and confirmed cases are not traced back. There were 99/284 (34.9%) condemnations from suspected carcasses and 57/97 (58.8%) from positive reactors from screening. Ninety percent (9/10) of districts submitted reports late to the region whereas representativeness was 30%. Regional and district data were manually stored with no electronic backups. The region's cattle population is unknown.ConclusionAlthough the bTB surveillance system is sensitive, it is under performing, and the possibility of bTB transmission from cattle to humans is high.

Systematic Review of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Dairy Farmers and Consumers Towards Bovine Tuberculosis in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…We found that studies investigating KAPs of consumers towards bTB are scarce; therefore, we included papers that reported milk and dairy consumption among the general population or subgroups of it, along with any aspects of KAPs towards bTB. Although our synthesis provides insight into milk consumers’ KAPs, targeted research should be warranted as several LMICs lack food safety protocols or integrated food chain surveillance, indicator-based or event-based surveillance for bTB and other zoonoses (117, 118) that put consumers at an unquantified risk of bTB infection. We grouped survey questions across studies under different themes to facilitate KAP synthesis.…”

“…This review addressed an important gap in the bTB literature. Our synthesis of African and Asian studies provides perspective on the risks associated with limited animal bTB surveillance in South-East Asia (10) and the lack of some critical attributes (123) in animal bTB surveillance systems in Africa (118). Livestock production will need to rapidly increase in Africa, Asia and South America to support the accelerated human population growth and associated animal–protein demand in these regions (85) Given this and the increasing importance of alternative livestock, such as camelids, the adaptability of bTB to various species and the isolation of less understood zoonotic mycobacterium sp.…”