Prevalence and Risk Factors of Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Dairy Farm Workers in Mirpurkhas and Badin Districts of Sindh, Pakistan

A one health-focused literature review on bovine and zoonotic tuberculosis in Pakistan from the past two decades: challenges and way forward for control

“…Of these, M. bovis was identified in 7 samples (3.78%) and M. tuberculosis in 2 samples (1.1%) [ 28 ] 2. Mirpurkhas and Badin districts (Sindh) Type of study: cross sectional Target animal species: Cattle Target location: urban and peri-urban areas Sample size: 200 Sample types for testing: blood, nasal discharge and milk (total 600 samples, 200 of each type) Diagnostic tests: SITT, Lilli rapid Ab test (Lilly dale Diagnostics, England) , ELISA, microscopy and culture (growth on LJ media supplemented with 1% sodium pyruvate; followed by niacin and urease tests for specie differentiation ) The prevalence of bTB in animals in Mirpurkhas was 5.5%, with varying prevalence detected by different tests: 4, 15,2 and 1% by SITT, rapid antibody test, culture from milk and nasal discharge, and ELISA respectively The prevalence of bTB in animals in Badin was 7%, with varying prevalence detected by different tests: 5, 18, 3 and 2% on SITT, rapid antibody test, culture, and ELISA respectively [ 29 ] 3. 4 public sector livestock experiment stations at Pattoki, Lahore, Bhakkar and Khushab (across Punjab) Type of study : cross sectional Target animal species : buffaloes Target location : Livestock/dairy farms Sample size : 627 Diagnostic tests : CITT An overall prevalence of 4.3% was reported, ranging from 3.45% to 4.98% Positive animals were detected on all four farms, indicating a 100% herd prevalence The prevalence of tuberculosis was found to be higher in older buffaloes [ 30 ] 4.…”

“…Field veterinarians and para-veterinary staff should be aware of the mode of transmission, range of hosts, clinical signs, and diagnosis of the disease [ 29 , 74 ]. There is also need for implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs), creating a national database, training of technical and non-technical staff for ante-mortem and post mortem examination along with educating animal handlers to break the cycle of zTB transmission [ 75 , 112 ].…”