BCG vaccination for bovine tuberculosis; conclusions from the Jerusalem One Health workshop

Abstract

The global burden of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) remains poorly characterized, with spill‐over impacts on multiple species. The “One Health” concept is especially relevant given the bidirectional risk of cattle infecting humans with Mycobacterium bovis and humans infecting cattle with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. “Test and cull” is the traditional bTB control method, but the strategy may not be economically feasible or culturally acceptable where cattle are highly prized or their killing is a religious taboo; it is also less effective when there are wildlife reservoirs of infection. Vaccination with M. bovis bacille Calmette‐Guerin (BCG) provides protection against bTB, but its use in animals has been limited. The Jerusalem One Health workshop considered key bTB knowledge gaps and innovative solutions. Knowledge gaps identified included (a) the poorly quantified prevalence of M. bovis infection and disease in cattle, domestic camelids and human populations in developing countries, (b) the absence of alternatives to a “test and cull” strategy in settings where the killing of infected animals is culturally or economically unacceptable, or where affected species are protected and (c) an understanding of the induction of mucosal immunity against bTB. We summarize discussions on the use of BCG vaccination in domestic animals and wildlife and list potential projects to address the knowledge gaps identified.

A proof-of-concept study to investigate the efficacy of heat-inactivated autovaccines in Mycobacterium caprae experimentally challenged goats

“…Alternative approaches to control livestock TB, such as test-and-segregate or vaccination are being prospected when strict test-and-cull strategies are unfeasible for logistic, economic or cultural reasons [8][9][10][11] . In some European regions, vaccination can be an ancillary tool for the control of TB in non-bovine domestic and wild animals in areas with a high burden of TB, particularly in those where multi-host maintenance communities have been identified 12 , hampering the success of bovine TB eradication campaigns.…”

Zoonotic Tuberculosis – The Changing Landscape

“…The detrimental impact of different MTBC species goes beyond human health, since they also affect the health of cattle and other animal species with consequential impact on livelihoods, animal-based industrial food systems, and conservation of wildlife species, including many iconic species such as bison, rhino’s, lions and even highly threatened African wild dogs ( De Garine-Wichatitsky et al, 2013 , Sichewo et al, 2019 , Marais et al, 2019 , Luciano and Roess, 2020 ). The existence of zTB animal carriers adds to the problem with e.g.…”

Comparative Study of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis In Vitro Infection in Bovine Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages: Preliminary Results

“…Several factors have been identified as responsible for the suboptimal sensitivity and specificity of those tests, especially in areas with high bovine tuberculosis prevalence [ 15 ]. Immunisation with Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG) strain has been shown to produce variable levels of protection against M. bovis [ 16 ]. Furthermore, vaccinated animals may have a positive response to the TST raising the need to develop a test that is able to differentiate infected animals from vaccinated animals (DIVA test) [ 17 ].…”