Journal Article

The prevalence, distribution and severity of detectable pathological lesions in badgers naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis

MORRISON, W. I., COX, D. R., WOODROFFE, R., McINERNEY, J. P., WATKINS, G. H., GETTINBY, G., DONNELLY, C. A., JOHNSTON, W. T., JENKINS, H. E., BOURNE, F. J., CLIFTON-HADLEY, R. S.

2008

Overview

The Randomized Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) began in 1998 to determine the impact of badger culling in controlling bovine tuberculosis in cattle. A total of 1166 badgers (14% of total) proactively culled during the RBCT were found to be tuberculous, offering a unique opportunity to study the pathology caused by Mycobacterium bovis in a large sample of badgers. Of these, 39% of adults (~6% of all adults culled) had visible lesions (detectable at necropsy) of bovine tuberculosis; cubs had a lower prevalence of infection (9%) but a higher percentage of tuberculous cubs (55·5%) had visible lesions. Only ~1% of adult badgers had extensive, severe pathology. Tuberculous badgers with recorded bite wounds (~5%) had a higher prevalence of visible lesions and a different distribution of lesions, suggesting transmission via bite wounds. However, the predominance of lesions in the respiratory tract indicates that most transmission occurs by the respiratory route.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Subject: Animal Structures - pathology / Animals / Bacteriology / Badgers / Biological and medical sciences / Cattle / Culling / Epidemiology / Female / Foot & mouth disease / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Infections / Lesions / Lungs / Lymph nodes / Male / Microbiology / Miscellaneous / Mustelidae - microbiology / Mycobacterium bovis - isolation & purification / Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Original Papers / Pathology / Prevalence / Respiratory tract / Tuberculosis / Tuberculosis - epidemiology / Tuberculosis - pathology / Tuberculosis - transmission / Tuberculosis - veterinary