Paratuberculosis in farmed and free-living wild ruminants in the Czech Republic (1999–2001)

392Tuberculosis in pigs causes high economic losses farmers from all over the world. The most consequential causative agents of tuberculosis in pigs at present are members of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTC) and M. avium (MAC) complexes. The losses are above all caused by restriction of animal transport from infected farms (with the exception of slaughterhouses), culling of animals positive during the tuberculin testing and the price of meat and organs from slaughtered infected animals (Alfredsen and Skjerve 1993;Dey and Parham, 1993;Morita et al., 1994;Balian et. al., 1997;Cvetnic et al., 1998; Positive skin responses were found in animals with antibodies against MAH (18; 23.7%), MAA (3; 4.0%) and MI (9; 11.8%) antigens. By serological examination of 17 sows with repeated dubious responses for tuberculin skin testing with avian tuberculin, no antibodies against MAA were detected; MAH antibodies and MI antibodies were found in eight and two animals, respectively. By post mortem examination of lymph nodes (ln) and organ samples from all 76 animals with responses to avian tuberculin, no tuberculous/tuberculoid lesions were detected. By culture examination of ln and organs from 13 animals, conditionally pathogenic mycobacteria (CPM) were isolated from only one animal (breeding boar): from mesenteric, pulmonary, hepatic ln and from spleen tissue samples. These isolates were identified as MAH and CPM by the PCR method and biochemically. By investigation of the external environment (205 samples), 33 (16.3%) CPM isolates were obtained: 13 MAH, eight M. fortuitum, one M. nonchromogenicum, one M. abscessus, one M. scrofulaceum and nine unidentified isolates, which were non-MAC according to the PCR examination. Non-specific responses obtained in the intravital tests (skin and serological tests) caused by CPM present in the environment substantially complicated diagnosis of avian tuberculosis. Based on these findings, animal hygiene measures have been adopted since 2002; resulted in a decrease of environmental contamination with CPM and a reduction in the number of animals giving positive responses to avian tuberculin.

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolation of conditionally pathogenic mycobacteria from the environment of one pig farm and the effectiveness of preventive measures between 1997 and 2003

Pavlík¹,

Mátlová²,

Gilar³

et al. 2007

“…Diagnosis of the disease is rather difficult as infected animals don't always shed MAP in faeces or milk. The serological methods have low sensitivity and specificity, and cultivation of the agent, although considered as the gold standard, takes a long time of several months with some MAP forms not growing in vitro at all (Pavlik et al, 1999;Machackova et al, 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in powdered infant milk: paratuberculosis in cattle - the public health problem to be solved

Hruška¹,

Bartoš²,

Králík³

et al. 2005

Fifty one products of dried milk baby food purchased from 10 producers from seven countries available on the Czech market have been tested. IS900, the specific fragments for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) have been detected using PCR in 25 samples (49.0 %) and fragment f57 by real time PCR in 18 samples (35.3%). These results correspond to the epidemiological situation in Europe and are not unexpected. Paratuberculosis in cattle was almost unknown in the Czech Republic until 1990. An increase in the number of cows with paratuberculosis found in slaughterhouses and the incidence of Crohn's disease in the last decade is evident. The possible risk of MAP dead cells or bacterial structures in food is discussed in respect to autoimmune Crohn's disease. The national programmes of paratuberculosis control and certification of paratuberculosis-free herds should be strongly supported to decrease the risk for children and other people under higher risk. Producers should use MAP free milk for baby food production on a voluntary basis.

“…bovis is the species of mycobacteria with the most serious consequences for health, causing infection in a wide range of hosts including people. Bovine tuberculosis was identified in ca�le (Bos primigenius f. taurus), the Indian buffalo (Bubalus arnee f. bubalis), pig (Sus scrofa f. domestica), wild boar (Sus scrofa), goat (Capra aegagrus f. hircus), dog (Canis lupus f. familiaris), cat (Felis silvestris f. catus), wild ruminants such as red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), bison (Bison bison), the European bison (Bison bonasus), carnivores such as red fox (Vulpes vulpes), coyote (Canis latrans) and various other animals such as badger (Meles meles), brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), rat (Ra�us norvegicus) and primates as well as people (Krul, 1962;Li�le et al, 1982a,b;Lipiec, 1997, 1998;Machackova et al, 2000;Pavlik et al, 2002c). The success of control programmes against bovine tuberculosis in ca�le and farmed deer in Australia and New Zealand is considerably complicated by bovine tuberculosis endemias, above all in populations of brushtail possum, badger, red deer and Indian buffalo living in the wild (Cheeseman et al, 1989;Tweddle and Livingstone, 1994).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) as a possible vector of mycobacterial infections: review of literature and critical analysis of data from Central Europe between 1983 to 2001

Macháčková¹,

Mátlová²,

Lamka³

et al. 2003

Infected animals in the wild, which can act as a reservoir and/or vector for the origin of bovine tuberculosis, are a great problem for national programmes seeking to free herds of ca�le from the infection. The circulation of Mycobacterium bovis in the wild animal population might cause a slow-down in the progress of control programmes through the reinfection of herds of livestock. The Eurasian badger (Meles meles) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) living in the wild in Great Britain and Ireland, brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), ferrets (Mustela putorius f. furo) in New Zealand and wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee) in Australia are among already known reservoirs and vectors of bovine tuberculosis. In 7 countries of Central Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) bovine tuberculosis in ca�le was controlled as part of national control programmes more than 20 years ago. In the last decade M. bovis has been diagnosed extremely sporadically in ca�le and other domestic animals as well as in wild animals held in captivity or living in the wild. This favourable situation could be threatened by the mycobacteria spreading via the wild boar (Sus scrofa) which is susceptible to mycobacterial infection and very abundant in Central Europe. According to available literary data, mycobacteria were detected in 361 wild boar originating from countries other than those of Central Europe, such as Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, the Hawaiian island of Molokai, Italy and Spain. M. tuberculosis complex (33.9%) and M. bovis complex (39.8%) isolates were most frequently detected in the faeces and/or parenchymatous organs of wild boar. Of other mycobacterial species, M. intracellulare (3.8%), M. avium subsp. avium (3.8%), M. terrae (2.4%), M. fortuitum (2.2%), M. scrofulaceum (2.2%), M. gordonae (0.8%), M. simiae (0.5%), M. szulgai (0.5%), M. xenopi (0.5%), M. smegmatis (0.2%), M. vaccae (0.2%), fast-growing, further unspecified species (0.2%) and unidentified mycobacteria (8.8%) were isolated. Following the analysis of literary data and our own results, it was found that, in the area covered by the above-mentioned 7 countries of Central Europe, a total of 431 wild boar were examined for mycobacterial infections in the years 1983-2001. Tuberculous lesions in parenchymatous organs were found in 43 (10.0%) animals. M. bovis was identified in 22 (5.1%) animals, M. a. avium in 2 (0.4%), M. a. paratuberculosis in 1 (0.2%) animal and atypical