Bovine tuberculosis (bTB)
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB)
Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial disease of cattle that can affect other species of mammals, caused by Mycobacterium bovis, a bacterium in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex of the family Mycobacteriaceae. It is a significant zoonosis that can spread to humans by inhaling aerosols or from drinking unpasteurized milk. Bovine tuberculosis is still common in less developed countries, and causes economic losses from livestock deaths, chronic disease and trade restrictions. Effective bovine TB vaccines are not currently available for cattle.
The Global Research Alliance for Bovine Tuberculosis (GRAbTB) was started under the STAR-IDAZ project, to facilitate research cooperation and technical exchange on bovine tuberculosis (bTB). GRAbTB currently has 15 partners from Asia, Australasia, the Americas and Europe, and is looking to expand their network. The Strategic Goals of GRAbTB are to: Identify research opportunities and facilitate collaborations within the Alliance; Conduct strategic and multi-disciplinary research to better understand bovine TB; Develop new and improved tools to control bovine TB; Serve as a communication and technology sharing gateway for the global bovine TB research community and stakeholders; and Promote collaboration with the human TB research community.
For more information on GRAbTB see: GRAbTB
The current state of bovine TB research is covered in the Annual state-of-the art report on animal health research on IRC priorities.
Recent Articles
- Prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis infection in traditionally managed cattle at the wildlife-livestock interface in South Africa in the absence of control measures
- A defined antigen skin test for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis.
- Methodology and preliminary results of a systematic literature review of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis.
- Network analysis of dairy cattle movement and associations with bovine tuberculosis spread and control in emerging dairy belts of Ethiopia.
- Editorial: Bovine Tuberculosis—International Perspectives on Epidemiology and Management