The use of PCR technique in the identification of Mycobacterium species responsible for bovine tuberculosis in cattle and buffaloes in Pakistan

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis is one of the important diseases of dairy and wild animals. The disease is prevalent all over the world, though developed countries have tremendously reduced the prevalence through eradication campaigns. The prevalence of disease in Pakistan on the basis of tuberculin testing or culture isolation of the organism has been reported previously. It is, however, important to use the latest diagnostic tools, i.e. PCR to confirm the type of Mycobacterium infecting the animals in Pakistan. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the utility of direct PCR on milk samples and nasal swabs to confirm the type of Mycobacterium infecting the animals. This study was carried out on 215 cattle and buffaloes of more than 2 years of age present at two livestock farms. The tuberculin results showed 22.5% prevalence at one farm and 25.9% at the other with an overall prevalence of 24.7%. The 92.5% of milk samples and/or nasal swabs showed positive PCR for Mycobacterium genus, 86.8% for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and 77.4% for Mycobacterium bovis. The M. bovis by PCR was detected in 13.2% of milk samples, 24.5% of nasal swabs and 39.6% of both milk samples + nasal swabs. The results suggested that there are 60% higher chance for a nasal swab to yield a positive PCR for M. bovis than the milk sample. It can be concluded from the present study that tuberculin testing is a useful method in studying the prevalence of disease as the PCR for Mycobacterium genus was positive in 92.5%, M. tuberculosis complex in 86.8% and Mycobacterium bovis in 77.4% cases.

Biopsy and Tracheobronchial Aspirates as Additional Tools for the Diagnosis of Bovine Tuberculosis in Living European Bison (Bison bonasus)

“…In other species, studies have been performed using molecular methods to directly detect genetic material in milk and nasal swabs from tuberculous cattle [38], in trunk washings from M. tuberculosis-infected Asian elephants [39], and bronchoalveolar lavage and trunk wash from MTBC-infected African elephants [40]. However, in all of those species, such methods are considered to be ancillary tools to other diagnostic techniques.…”

Community, system and policy level drivers of bovine tuberculosis in smallholder periurban dairy farms in India: a qualitative enquiry

“…Qualitative narrative and the literature review show that bovine tuberculosis among cattle is one of the least studied disease with limited epidemiological evidences to support the decision making in India. Studies from South-East Asia reported animal level prevalence of bovine tuberculosis up to 24.7% [29, 30]. A recently published systematic review and meta-analyses on prevalence bovine tuberculosis considered 11 studies from past 10 years from India [9].…”

Diagnóstico histopatológico e molecular de lesões sugestivas de tuberculose em búfalos abatidos nos municípios de Macapá e Santana, estado do Amapá

“…Casos humanos de tuberculose por ingestão de leite, chamada escrófula, são amplamente citados na literatura (Moda et al 1996, Cosivi et al 1998, Thoen et al 2006, Doran et al 2009) e a confirmação de M. bovis em amostras de leite através de testes moleculares (PCR) torna possível a rápida detecção do agente e aplicação de medidas de controle e erradicação da enfermidade em rebanhos infectados (Akhtar et al 2015, Cezar et al 2016.…”