An Effort to Isolate Mycobacterium bovis from Environmental Substrates during Investigations of Bovine Tuberculosis Transmission Sites (Cattle Farms and Wildlife Areas) in Michigan, USA

Amanda E Fine; Daniel J O'Brien; Scott R Winterstein; John B Kaneene

doi:10.5402/2011/787181

An Effort to Isolate Mycobacterium bovis from Environmental Substrates during Investigations of Bovine Tuberculosis Transmission Sites (Cattle Farms and Wildlife Areas) in Michigan, USA

ISRN Vet Sci. 2011 Sep 22:2011:787181. doi: 10.5402/2011/787181. Print 2011.

Authors

Amanda E Fine¹, Daniel J O'Brien, Scott R Winterstein, John B Kaneene

Affiliation

¹ Center for Comparative Epidemiology, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1314, USA ; Wildlife Conservation Society, Mongolia Country Program, P.O. Box 485, Post Office 38, Ulaanbaatar 211238, Mongolia.

Abstract

Deer movements on cattle farms, wildlife feeding, and livestock management practices in Michigan are thought to create opportunities for indirect transmission of Mycobacterium bovis via environmental substrates. To confirm the presence of viable M. bovis in the environment, substrates were collected from 13 farms with culture-confirmed M. bovis in cattle and 5 sites with high prevalence of M. bovis in free-ranging deer. None of the samples processed for mycobacterial culture were positive for M. bovis. Agent, host, and landscape-level factors decrease the probability of detecting M. bovis in the environment using conventional mycobacterial culture. Molecular techniques that increase the probability of M. bovis detection in environmental substrates should be applied to known sites of M. bovis transmission in Michigan. In the interim, epidemiological investigations informed by experimental studies will be most effective in characterizing M. bovis persistence in the environment and its role in the indirect interspecies transmission of M. bovis.