Monitoring the Health Status and Herd-Level Risk Factors of
Tuberculosis in Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Dairy Farms
in Pakistan
Aziz ur Rehman1*, Syed Ehtisham-ul-Haque1,
Muhammad Tariq Javed2, Muhammad Zishan Ahmad3,
Ishtiaq Ahmed1, Muhammad Kamran Rafique1,
Irfan Irshad4, Muhammad Riaz5, Tariq Hussain6,
Arbab Sikandar6 and Ghulam Hussain Dilbar7
1Department
of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Jhang,
Pakistan; 2Department of Pathology, University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 3Department of
Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary & Animal
Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan;
4Institute of Continuing Education and Extension, University of
Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore54000, Punjab, Pakistan.
5Department of Allied Health Sciences, Sargodha Medical
College, University of Sargodha, Pakistan; 5Department of
Basic Sciences, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Jhang,
Pakistan; 6Department of Theriogenology, University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author:
aziz.rehman@uvas.edu.pk
Abstract
Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis, a
bacterium that infects a wide range of animal species, including humans. In this
study, we determined the prevalence of tuberculosis in domesticated water
buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and assessed potential risk factors at four
government dairy farms in Punjab, Pakistan. Tuberculin skin testing was
performed on 627 water buffaloes. Risk factors such as age, body weight, milk
yield, lactation status, the total number of animals, and the presence of small
ruminants at the farms were recorded due to their potential association with
tuberculosis transmission. The impact of M. bovis infection on complete
blood cell counts (CBC) was also assessed. In total, 27 (4.3%) animals were
positive for tuberculosis in the four dairy farms. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin
concentrations were lower in infected animals compared to non-infected animals,
whereas the number of platelets was higher in infected animals compared to
non-infected animals. The results revealed that the increase in body weight, age
of the animals, and water buffalo density on the farm can increase the disease
occurrence.Binary logistic
regression analysis, including farm and other variables, revealed that the
assessed herd-level risk factors of bovine tuberculosis transmission had a
statistically non-significant association for monitoring water buffaloes. The
current study had emphasized revealing different possible risk factors in native
husbandry practices.The studysuggestsregular tuberculosis screening for proper control of M. bovis
infection in water buffalo herds. This will ultimately help to further reduce
the cases of zoonotic bovine tuberculosis.
To Cite This Article:
Rehman AU, Haque SEU, Javed MT, Ahmad MZ, Ahmed
I, Rafique MK, Riaz M, Hussain T, Sikandar A and Dilbar GH, 2021. Monitoring the
health status and herd-level risk factors of tuberculosis in water buffalo (Bubalus
bubalis) dairy farms in Pakistan. Pak Vet J, 41(4): 552-556. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2021.051