The prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis-infection and atypical mycobacterioses in cattle in and around Morogoro, Tanzania

A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis-infection and atypical mycobacterioses in different cattle herd management systems in and around Morogoro, Tanzania. Between April and June 2005, a total of 728 bovines from 49 herds were tested for M. bovis-infection and atypical mycobacterioses. Milk samples were taken from tuberculin positive animals and analysed for the presence of mycobacteria. Total prevalences of 2.5% and 10.1% were found for M. bovis-infection and atypical mycobacterioses respectively, with more M. bovis-infection in cattle in the extensive management system and more atypical mycobacterioses in cattle in the intensive management system. From 8 out of 42 milk samples (19%) atypical mycobacteria were cultured. A higher prevalence of M. bovis-infection in the extensive sector could be due to several factors. In addition, such high prevalence puts herd owners and their families at risk for BTB. Therefore control of BTB, as well as education of cattle owners is important, especially in the extensive sector.