Fasciola hepatica is associated with the failure to detect bovine tuberculosis in dairy cattle

Claridge, Jen and Diggle, Peter and McCann, Catherine and Mulcahy, Grace and Flynn, Rob and McNair, Jim and Strain, Sam and Welsh, Michael and Baylis, Matthew and Williams, Diana J.L. (2012) Fasciola hepatica is associated with the failure to detect bovine tuberculosis in dairy cattle. Nature Communications, 3 (n/a).

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Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a significant and intractable disease of cattle caused by Mycobacterium bovis. In the United Kingdom, despite an aggressive eradication programme, the prevalence of BTB is increasing with an unexplained, exponential rise in cases year on year. Here we show in a study involving 3,026 dairy herds in England and Wales that there is a significant negative association between exposure to the common, ubiquitous helminth parasite, Fasciola hepatica and diagnosis of BTB. The magnitude of the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test used to diagnose BTB is reduced in cattle experimentally co-infected with M. bovis and F. hepatica. We estimate an under-ascertainment rate of about one-third (95% confidence interval 27–38%) among our study farms, in the hypothetical situation of no exposure to F. hepatica. This finding may in part explain the continuing spread of BTB and the failure of the current eradication programme in the United Kingdom.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Nature Communications
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3100
Subjects:
?? BIOLOGICAL SCIENCESIMMUNOLOGYMICROBIOLOGYMEDICAL STATISTICSBIOCHEMISTRY, GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY(ALL)CHEMISTRY(ALL)PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY(ALL) ??
ID Code:
54639
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
28 May 2012 13:32
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Sep 2023 00:01