Temporal and spatial Mycobacterium bovis prevalence patterns as evidenced in the All Wales Badgers Found Dead (AWBFD) survey of infection 2014–2016

Schroeder, Paul G.; Hopkins, Beverley; Galloway, Terry D.; Pike, Ryan; Rolfe, Simon; Hewinson, R. Glyn

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-72297-9

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…Overall, 51/610 (8.3%, 95% CI 6.4–11%) carcasses were culture positive and confirmed by PCR as MTC, a figure similar to that found for Wales in 2014–2016 21 . Previous studies found that the prevalence of infection in badgers was higher in adults than cubs, and in males than females, although in some cases these differences were not statistically significant 16 , 20 , 21 , 29 . This study found no significant difference in prevalence by age, although the numbers of, and prevalence in, younger badgers was small; but that the prevalence of infection in males was approximately twice that in females.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…This study found no significant difference in prevalence by age, although the numbers of, and prevalence in, younger badgers was small; but that the prevalence of infection in males was approximately twice that in females. It has been suggested this difference might reflect the larger home ranges of, and more territorial conflicts between, males compared to females, both of which could increase transmission 20 , 21 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the discovery of TB in badgers in the 1970s and 1980s 14 – 17 , several surveys of road-killed badgers for TB were undertaken in different areas of England and Wales (reviewed in Krebs et al 18 ). More recently, surveys of ‘found dead’ badgers in Northern Ireland and Wales have been published 19 – 21 , and also a study of road-killed badgers in Cheshire, NW England, in 2014 22 , a county that until 2018 straddled the Edge Area and the HRA. In each study, infection in badgers was found largely, although by no means totally, in areas in which TB in cattle was, at the time, most prevalent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England

Swift

Barron

Christley

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important animal health and economic problem for the cattle industry and a potential zoonotic threat. Wild badgers (Meles meles) play a role on its epidemiology in some areas of high prevalence in cattle, particularly in the UK and Republic of Ireland and increasingly in parts of mainland Europe. However, little is known about the involvement of badgers in areas on the spatial edge of the cattle epidemic, where increasing prevalence in cattle is seen. Here we report the findings of a study of found-dead (mainly road-killed) badgers in six counties on the edge of the English epidemic of bTB in cattle. The overall prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) infection detected in the study area was 51/610 (8.3%, 95% CI 6.4–11%) with the county-level prevalence ranging from 15 to 4–5%. The MTC spoligotypes of recovered from badgers and cattle varied: in the northern part of the study area spoligotype SB0129 predominated in both cattle and badgers, but elsewhere there was a much wider range of spoligotypes found in badgers than in cattle, in which infection was mostly with the regional cattle spoligotype. The low prevalence of MTC in badgers in much of the study area, and, relative to in cattle, the lower density of sampling, make firm conclusions difficult to draw. However, with the exception of Cheshire (north-west of the study area), little evidence was found to link the expansion of the bTB epidemic in cattle in England to widespread badger infection.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England

Swift

Barron

Christley

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Despite the possible limitations of using post-mortem samples, it provides an initial understanding of the faecal microbiome for this population at post-mortem. Multiple studies have used post-mortem samples from badgers for monitoring of bTB (Abernethy et al , 2011; Goodchild et al , 2012; Sandoval Barron et al , 2018; Schroeder et al , 2020) and this work provides evidence that such samples could also be used for microbiome analysis, for instance in the comparison of M. bovis infected and non-infected badgers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 66%

The faecal microbiome of the wild European badger Meles meles; a comparison against other wild omnivorous mammals from across the globe

Scott-Baumann

Friedersdorff

Villarreal‐Ramos

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Here we investigate the faecal microbiome of wild European badgers Meles meles using samples collected at post-mortem as part of the All Wales Badger Found Dead study based on sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. This is the first published characterisation of the badger microbiome. We initially undertook a sex-matched age comparison between the adult and cub microbiomes. Analysis used the QIIME 2 pipeline utilising DADA2 and the Silva database for taxonomy assignment. Fusobacteria appeared to be more abundant in the microbiomes of the cubs than the adults although no significant difference was seen in alpha or beta diversity between the adult and cub badger microbiomes. Comparisons were also made against other wild, omnivorous, mammals’ faecal microbiomes using publicly available data. Significant differences were seen in both alpha and beta diversity between the microbiomes from different species. As a wildlife species of interest to the disease bovine tuberculosis, knowledge of the faecal microbiome could assist in identification of infected badgers. Our work here suggests that if comparisons were made between the faeces of bTB infected and non-infected badgers, its possible age may not have a significant impact on the microbiome.

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The Faecal Microbiome of the Wild European Badger Meles meles: A Comparison Against Other Wild Omnivorous Mammals from Across the Globe

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Here we investigate the faecal microbiome of wild European badgers Meles meles using samples collected at post-mortem as part of the All Wales Badger Found Dead study. This is the first published characterisation of the badger microbiome. We initially undertook a sex-matched age comparison between the adult and cub microbiomes, based on sequencing the V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Analysis used the QIIME 2 pipeline utilising DADA2 and the Silva database for taxonomy assignment. Fusobacteria appeared to be more abundant in the microbiomes of the cubs than the adults although no significant difference was seen in alpha or beta diversity between the adult and cub badger microbiomes. Comparisons were also made against other wild, omnivorous, mammals’ faecal microbiomes using publicly available data. Significant differences were seen in both alpha and beta diversity between the microbiomes from different species. As a wildlife species of interest to the disease bovine tuberculosis, knowledge of the faecal microbiome could assist in identification of infected badgers. Our work here suggests that, if comparisons were made between the faeces of bTB infected and non-infected badgers, age may not have a significant impact on the microbiome.

show abstract

Temporal and spatial Mycobacterium bovis prevalence patterns as evidenced in the All Wales Badgers Found Dead (AWBFD) survey of infection 2014–2016

Cited by 9 publications

References 20 publications

Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England

Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England

The faecal microbiome of the wild European badger Meles meles; a comparison against other wild omnivorous mammals from across the globe

The Faecal Microbiome of the Wild European Badger Meles meles: A Comparison Against Other Wild Omnivorous Mammals from Across the Globe

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