title: Tuberculosis cross-species transmission in Tanzania: towards a One-Health concept.
abstract: For centuries, tuberculosis, which is a chronic infection caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium  tuberculosis has remained a global health problem. The global burden of tuberculosis has  increased, particularly in the Southern African region, mainly due to HIV, and inadequate health  systems which has in turn given rise to emergent drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) strains. Bovine  tuberculosis (BTB) has also emerged as a significant disease with the tendency for inter-species  spread. The extent of interspecies BTB transmission both in urban and rural communities has not  been adequately assessed. The phenomenon is of particular importance in rural communities  where people share habitats with livestock and wildlife (particularly in areas near national parks  and game reserves). Aerosol and oral intake are the major routes of transmission from diseased  to healthy individuals, with health care workers often contracting infection nosocomially.  Although TB control has increasingly been achieved in high-income countries, the disease, like  other poverty-related infections, has continued to be a disaster in countries with low income  economies. Transmission of infections occurs not only amongst humans but also between  animals and humans (and occasionally vice versa) necessitating assessment of the extent of  transmission at their interface. This review explores tuberculosis as a disease of humans which  can cross-transmit between humans, livestock and wildlife. The review also addresses issues  underlying the use of molecular biology, genetic sequencing and bioinformatics as t tools to  understand the extent of inter-species cross-transmission of TB in a 'One Health' context.
authors: Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences. erasto.mbugi@sacids.org.
authors: Erasto V
authors: EV
authors: Mbugi
authors: Bugwesa Z
authors: BZ
authors: Katale
authors: Sharon
authors: S
authors: Kendall
authors: Liam
authors: L
authors: Good
authors: Gibson S
authors: GS
authors: Kibiki
authors: Julius D
authors: JD
authors: Keyyu
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Godfrey-Faussett
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Van Helden
authors: Mecky I
authors: MI
authors: Matee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D002417:Cattle; D003428:Cross Infection; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D058751:Livestock; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000472:pathogenicity; D013045:Species Specificity; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission* / Q000662:veterinary*; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D015047:Zoonoses