Prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in dromedary camels and awareness of pastoralists about its zoonotic importance in Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate bovine tuberculosis in camels which was conducted in Eastern part of Ethiopia using post mortem examination, Mycobaterium isolation, tuberculin skin test and questionnaire based interview. Tuberculosis (TB) is an important disease for pastoralist, particularly due to prevailing habit of consuming raw milk and sharing house during night time with their animals. This study has showed prevalence rate of 8.3% (33/398) based on the post mortem examination and 6.0% (29/480) at cut off >4 mm based on the tuberculin test. From 33 camels with suspected tuberculosis compatible lesions, 12% (4/33) showed mycobacterial growth on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) media supplemented with pyruvate and 18% (6/33) on LJ media supplemented with glycerol. 94.7% (36/38) of the interviewed pastoralists knew about TB while only 50% (19/38) were aware about its zoonotic importance. However, only 18.4% (7/38) of the interviewed camel owners usually boil camel milk before consumption. The result of this study highlights the potential public health risk posed by TB from camels. Hence, prompt measures are required to control the possible zoonotic transmission of the disease-prioritizing on educating the pastoralist to consume camel milk after boiling.

Nontuberculosis mycobacteria are the major causes of tuberculosis like lesions in cattle slaughtered at Bahir Dar Abattoir, northwestern Ethiopia

“…The overall prevalence of bTB from gross suspected TB lesion(s) in the present study was 2.78% which is comparable to 2.7% reported by Bekele and Belay [10], but lower than other findings ranging from 3.5% to 10.2% [7–9, 11–15, 25]. These variations could be explained by many factors including differences in the disease status in the animal populations, the sample size and the type of production system from where the slaughtered cattle were originated.…”

The Flourishing Camel Milk Market and Concerns about Animal Welfare and Legislation

“…Dromedaries may carry the very high-risk zoonotic pathogen MERS-CoV [83,84] Nearly impossible to prevent spreading of MERS Dromedaries may also carry various other high-risk zoonotic pathogens such as rabies virus [85][86][87], Rift Valley fever virus [88], Brucella abortion, B. meletensis [88], Chlamydia abortion [89], Leptospira interrogans [90] and Mycobacterium bovis [91][92][93] Correct. However, worldwide prevalence is low and constantly declining [94].…”

Appraisal of interpretation criteria for the single intra-dermal comparative cervical tuberculin test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in dromedary camels in Ethiopia

“…There is little published information on the epidemiology of TB specifically relating to camelids (Rhodes et al 2015). However, recently, few studies have been conducted on the epidemiology of tuberculosis in camels (Beye et al 2014; Gumi et al 2012; Jibril et al 2016; Kassaye et al 2013; Mamo et al 2009, 2011; Zerom et al 2013). Prevalence data on camel tuberculosis reported in Ethiopia showed lesion prevalence of 5.07 and 10.04% by Mamo et al (2009, 2011); and 4.52% by (Kassaye et al 2013).…”

“…Based on comparative tuberculin test, prevalence of 9.82% at a cutoff ≥ 4 mm and 17.05% at a cutoff ≥ 2 mm were recorded (Jibril et al 2016). Moreover, prevalence of 8.3% on post mortem examination and tuberculin reactor prevalence of 6.0% at cutoff > 4 mm (Beye et al 2014).…”