title: The variability and seasonality of the environmental reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis shed by wild European badgers.
abstract: The incidence of Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis, has been increasing in UK cattle herds resulting in substantial economic losses. The European badger (Meles meles) is implicated as a wildlife reservoir of infection. One likely route of transmission to cattle is through exposure to infected badger urine and faeces. The relative importance of the environment in transmission remains unknown, in part due to the lack of information on the distribution and magnitude of environmental reservoirs. Here we identify potential infection hotspots in the badger population and quantify the heterogeneity in bacterial load; with infected badgers shedding between 1 × 10(3)- 4 × 10(5) M. bovis cells g(-1) of faeces, creating a substantial and seasonally variable environmental reservoir. Our findings highlight the potential importance of monitoring environmental reservoirs of M. bovis which may constitute a component of disease spread that is currently overlooked and yet may be responsible for a proportion of transmission amongst badgers and onwards to cattle.
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: Hayley C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: Yu-Jiun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge, Woodham lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 3NB.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge, Woodham lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 3NB.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cork
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Management Centre, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodchester Park, Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, GL10 3UJ, UK.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Delahay
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Environmental and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3HD.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gaze
authors.affiliation: 1] University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL [2] Warwick Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (WIDER), University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: Orin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Courtenay
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Wellington
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D002417:Cattle; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology*; D004777:Environment; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D045969:Mustelidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*