Mycobacterium bovis, wildlife - South Africa (Kruger Park)

International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

[1]
Source: SABC [edited]
< http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,134742,00.html>

A foreign disease which entered through the south of the Kruger
National Park in 1960, bovine tuberculosis (TB), has now spread
through the park.

Blood samples taken from buffaloes right up to the Limpopo River have
confirmed this. Initially only buffalo were infected, but now other
animals, including lions and leopards, are also being affected.

It is believed that bovine TB entered the Kruger Park through contact
between domestic cattle and buffalo. The disease spread gradually,
and in 2003 it was thought it would take 30 years to reach the north.
But now, 3 years later, it has already spread to the north.

There is no vaccine or treatment for bovine TB. The disease is also
threatening the Trans-frontier Park which is being developed by South
Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.


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[2]
Source: Reuters South Africa, 13 Sep 2006 [edited]
< http://za.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-13T104703Z_01_BAN338828_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-SAFRICA-KRUGER-TB-20060913.XML>


Bovine tuberculosis, an infectious disease mostly confined to cattle
but now threatening wildlife around the world, is spreading among
buffalo in South Africa's Kruger National Park, an official said on Wednesday.

Tests confirm more of the famed park's estimated 32 000 buffalo have
contracted the chronic wasting disease. Other animals, including
lions, leopards and hyenas, may also be infected through consumption
of infected prey.

"It has increased and we have picked up signs of the disease in the
north (part of the park)," said Raymond Travers, spokesman for
Kruger, one of the continent's premier wildlife reserves.

Bovine TB spreads mainly through respiratory secretions and is marked
by sharp weight loss and lesions in the lymph nodes and lungs. With
no efficient way to treat the disease, farmers are usually forced to
quarantine or cull infected livestock.

Protecting deer, bison and other free-range animals from the disease
has become a priority in the United States, Canada and elsewhere due
to fears that the infection could become uncontrollable, decimating
livestock and wildlife alike.

Travers, however, said park officials were not seeing any indications
of a decline in Kruger's buffalo population from the disease, which
often takes years to kill infected animals.

Believed to have entered the southern part of the park decades ago
through contact with infected cattle, bovine TB has since spread
through the nearly 2 million-hectare reserve, 330 km (200 miles)
northeast of Johannesburg.

Although humans can contract the disease -- normally by eating
contaminated dairy products or meat -- Travers said there was no
realistic threat to the 1.2 million people who visit the park annually.

Founded in 1898, Kruger is the jewel in the crown of South Africa's
system of national parks and home to 147 kinds of wild mammals,
including the so-called "Big 5": lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant.