Investigation article published in The Veterinary Record

June 22^nd, 2013

Measures, such as the increase in the frequency of controls, the use of the gamma-interferon assay as ancillary test, the improvement of slaughterhouse surveillance, or the implementation of premovement testing have helped to progressively reduce the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in Spain in the last decade (Anonymous 2012a). However, the objective of eradication is far from being achieved, and this failure has been mainly attributed to the role of wild ungulate species (mainly wild boar and red deer) as reservoirs of bTB (Vicente and others 2006, Naranjo and others 2008). In Spain, with the second largest goat population in the European Union – about 2.9 million heads in 2010 (Anonymous 2012b) – the presence of tuberculosis in goats may also compromise the bTB eradication campaign (Liébana and others 1998, Humblet and others 2009). Goats seem to be very susceptible to infection by Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae, which result in the development of disseminated lesions and a fast transmission within the herd (Crawshaw and others 2008, Rodríguez and others 2011). The reporting of caprine tuberculosis outbreaks has increased in recent years, not only in southern European countries where the disease is considered to be endemic, but also in countries such as the UK or Ireland (Daniel and others 2009, Quintas and others 2010, Shanahan and others 2011). Besides the important economic losses it may cause to the livestock sector (Daniel and others 2009), caprine tuberculosis represents a zoonotic risk (Gutiérrez and others 1997, Rodríguez and others 2009)

Napp S., Allepuz A., Mercader I., Nofrarias M., Lopez-Soria S., Domingo M., Romero B., Bezos J. and Perez de Val B.

Evidence of goats acting as domestic reservoirs of bovine tuberculosis

Evidence of goats acting as domestic reservoirs of bovine tuberculosis

	Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA). Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
	Servicio de Micobacterias (MYC). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad y de Anatomía Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
	Departamento de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Natural. Generalitat de Catalunya.