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Emergence of bovine tuberculosis in wildlife in Southern Africa : a threat for livestock

Caron A., De Garine-Wichatitsky M., Gomo C., Foggin C., Miguel E., Cornélis D.. 2011. Ecohealth, 7 : S66. International One Health Congress. 1, 2011-02-14/2011-02-16, Victoria (Australie).

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important emerging disease in wildlife and a poorly studied zoonosis in Southern Africa. Introduced through livestock to the African buffalo population in the South of Kruger National Park (KNP), the pathogen has spread towards the unfenced northern boundary of KNP which coincides with the boundary with Zimbabwe. If most of KNP is fenced, the adjacent Gonarezhou National Park (GNP) in Zimbabwe is unfenced allowing contacts between wildlife and livestock. We investigated the risk of emergence of bTB in African buffalo and in communal cattle in and around GNP. In Zimbabwe, between 2008 and 2009, 48 buffalos and 120 cattle heads were tested for bTB.Weequippedwith GPS collars 12 buffalos in four herds and 12 cattle heads in 12 herds in the periphery of the GNP. We collected one year of GPS data. Four buffalos were positive to bTB with the gamma interferon test. Two of them were post-mortem and culture isolation of a KNP bTB strain was confirmed. No cattle were confirmed bTB positive. After constructing matrices of contacts between cattle and buffalo, we used network analysis to analyse these contacts for different temporal windows chosen on the basis of bTB modes of transmission. We report the emergence of bTB in GNP buffalo from KNP buffalo. Direct contact between buffalo and cattle were rare but few indirect contacts were compatible with bTB transmission. We discuss the bTB emergence in buffalo in relation to the wildlife/livestock/human interface in southern Africa. (Texte intégral)

Mots-clés : tuberculose; bovin; buffle africain; animal sauvage; animal domestique; interactions biologiques; transmission des maladies; analyse du risque; bétail; zimbabwe; afrique australe; Émergence

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