Bovine Tuberculosis and Brucellosis in Cattle and African Buffalo in the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique.
Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) and brucellosis are prevalent in buffaloes of the Kruger National Park (KNP, South Africa). Both diseases were considered to have no or a very low prevalence in wildlife and livestock in and around the Limpopo National Park (LNP, Mozambique). The same applies for tuberculosis in Gonarezhou National Park (GNP, Zimbabwe), but just recently, BTB was detected in buffaloes in the GNP and fears arose that the disease might also spread to the LNP as a result of the partial removal of the fences between the three parks to form the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. To assess the status of both diseases in and around LNP, 62 buffaloes were tested for bovine tuberculosis (BTB) and bovine brucellosis. The percentage of positive BTB reactors in buffalo was 8.06% using BovidTB Stat-Pak® and 0% with BOVIGAM® IFN-γ test and IDEXX ELISA. The brucellosis seroprevalence in buffalo was found to be 17.72% and 27.42% using Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and ELISA, respectively. In addition, 2445 cattle in and around the LNP were examined for BTB using the single intradermal cervical comparative tuberculin test (SICCT), and an apparent prevalence of 0.98% was found with no significant difference inside (0.5%) and outside (1.3%) the park. This is the first published report on the presence of positive reactors to BTB and bovine brucellosis in buffalo and cattle in and outside the LNP. Monitoring the wildlife-livestock-human interface of zoonotic high-impact diseases such as BTB and brucellosis is of outmost importance for the successful implementation and management of any transfrontier park that aims to improve the livelihoods of the local communities.
Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.|International Animal Health Team, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Isle of Riems, Germany.
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Tanner
Veterinary Faculty, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Inlameia
Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
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Michel
National Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Maxlhuza
Veterinary Faculty, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Pondja
Veterinary Faculty, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Fafetine
National Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Macucule
National Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Zacarias
National Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Manguele
Veterinary Faculty, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Moiane
Central Veterinary Laboratory, Institute for Agriculture Research of Mozambique, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Marranangumbe
Centre for Biotechnology, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Mulandane
Institute of Molecular Pathogenesis, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Jena, Germany.
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Schönfeld
Institute of Molecular Pathogenesis, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Jena, Germany.
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Moser
Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/MRC Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa.
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van Helden
Veterinary Faculty, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
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Machado
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002020:Buffaloes; D002417:Cattle; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D058751:Livestock; D009073:Mozambique / Q000453:epidemiology; D000068316:Parks, Recreational; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000453:epidemiology*
Limpopo; brucellosis; buffalo; cattle; tuberculosis; wildlife-livestock-human interface