Mycobacterium bovis infection at the interface between domestic and wild animals in Zambia

A PCR identified 15 and 37 M. bovis isolates from lechwe and cattle, respectively. Spoligotype analysis revealed that M. bovis strains from lechwe and cattle in Kafue basin clustered into a major node SB0120, where isolates outside the Kafue basin clustered into different nodes of SB0131 and SB0948. The comparatively higher variety of strains in cattle compared to lechwe elucidated by Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units–Variable Number Tandem Repeats analyses are consistent with cattle being the probable source of M. bovis in wild and domestic animals interphase area in Zambia.These results provide strong evidence of M. bovis strains transfer between cattle and lechwe, with the latter having developed into a sylvatic reservoir host.Majority of the mycobacterial species that cause human and animal tuberculosis are grouped together as members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) [1,2]. This Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex includes very closely related species of mycobacteria among them: M. tuberculosis, M. africanum, M. microti, M. bovis, M. caprae, M. canettii and M. pinnipedii[1]. Although M. tuberculosis infection is the most common cause of human tuberculosis, part of other proportion of cases are due to M. bovis[3,4].Zoonotic tuberculosis is caused mainly by M. bovis that has been shown to have a very wide host range [4-6]. The specie has been documented throughout the world with a similar impact in terms of disease occurrence [5]. In Zambia, BTB is not homogenously distributed, however, high prevalence rates have been recorded within and around the Kafue basin where there is extensive overlap in terms of grazing land for both wild and domestic animals [7-9]. Additionally, the Kafue lechwe antelopes (Kobus leche Kafuensis) found in the Kafue basin have been described as feral reservoirs of BTB in Zambia [10,11]. The disease has a historical presence in the Kafue basin that predates the identification of the area as a protected ecosystem and