title: Herd outbreak of bovine tuberculosis illustrates that route of infection correlates with anatomic distribution of lesions in cattle and cats.
abstract: An outbreak of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in a Michigan dairy herd resulted in quarantine, depopulation, pathology, and epidemiologic investigations. This herd, compared to other TB-infected herds in Michigan, was unusual in the long-term feeding of waste milk to its replacement calves. The herd had 80 cattle with positive results on caudal fold test or gamma interferon testing, which were reclassified as suspects because the herd had never been known to be tuberculous previously. Autopsy revealed striking variation in the anatomic distribution of gross anatomic lesions, microscopic lesions, and culture-positive lymph nodes between the adult cattle, the calves, and the domestic cats present on the farm. Adult cattle had lesions and culture-positive lymph nodes predominantly within the thoracic lymph nodes, whereas cats had 50% of their lesions and culture-positive lymph nodes in their abdomens, and 50% of positive calves had culture-positive lymph nodes in their abdomens. This difference in anatomic distribution correlated with the likely routes of infection, which are believed to be by direct airborne transmission in adult cattle and indirect ingestion of contaminated milk in both calves and cats. Although TB literature over the past 100-plus years states that the route of infection may manifest itself in differences in lesion anatomic distribution, our team has been working with TB for over 20 years, and we have never encountered such striking variation between different groups of animals on the same farm.
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene) fitzgerald@dcpah.msu.edu.
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene).
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hollinger
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene).
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Mullaney
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene).
authors.forename: Colleen S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Bruning-Fann
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene).
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tilden
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene).
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene).
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Averill
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (Fitzgerald, Hollinger, Mullaney)District Office, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Lansing, MI (Bruning-Fann)Food Safety Planning and Response Unit, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Tilden)State Veterinarian's Office, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lansing, MI (Smith, Averill)Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (Kaneene).
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kaneene
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*
keywords: Bovine tuberculosis; cattle; domestic cats; epidemiology; pathology