Abattoir-based surveillance reveals geographic clustering and risk factors for bovine tuberculosis in Tanzania
Paper Details
Abattoir-based surveillance reveals geographic clustering and risk factors for bovine tuberculosis in Tanzania
Abstract
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important threat to livestock and public health in Tanzania. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and identify risk factors for gross tuberculous lesions as a proxy for bTB using abattoir surveillance in the Mbeya region, in Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2024 to January 2025, where thorough postmortem examinations of 19,270 cattle were carried out at three abattoirs. Animal characteristics and geographic origin data were obtained. We also examined a five-year retrospective dataset from these abattoirs (2019-2023) for the determination of temporal trends. The overall prevalence of gross tuberculous lesions was 0.11%. High prevalence of bTB lesions was associated with poor body condition 0.74% and cattle sourced from Sumbawanga district 0.20%. There was marked variation between abattoirs, with Utengule having the highest prevalence of 0.19%. No significant associations were found with breed or sex. Analysis of the retrospective data from 2019-2023 indicated a fluctuating trend which declines from 0.79% in 2019 to 0.66% in 2020; peaking at 0.93% in 2021before at 0.60-0.65% in 2022 and 2023. Although the prevalence of visible bTB lesions is low, the findings indicate a continued, but silent, disease burden. The marked clustering of the cases at the Utengule abattoir and in cattle originating from Sumbawanga provides a clear evidence base for targeted interventions. We recommend enhanced surveillance in these high-risk areas in order to understand the true infection pressure and prevent the potential zoonotic threat.
Alton GD, Pearl DL, Bateman KG, Mcnab WB, Berke O. 2010. Factors associated with whole carcass condemnation rates in provincially-inspected abattoirs in Ontario 2001–2007: Implications for food animal syndromic surveillance. BMC Veterinary Research 6(42), 1–11.
Awah-Ndukum J, Temwa J, Ngwa VN, Mouiche MM, Iyawa D, Zoli PA. 2016. Interpretation criteria for comparative intradermal tuberculin test for diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in Maroua Area of Cameroon. Veterinary Medicine International 2016, 4834851. DOI: 10.1155/2016/4834851
Awinia CS. 2020. The sociology of intra-African pastoralist migration: The case of Tanzania. Frontiers in Sociology 5, 518797. DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2020.518797
Belete A, Tilahun S, Haile B, Demessie Y, Getachew A, Getaneh G, Kebede E, Ejo M. 2021. Prevalence of bovine tuberculosis and distribution of tuberculous lesions in cattle slaughtered at Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. Infection Ecology and Epidemiology 11, 1986919. DOI: 10.1080/20008686.2021.1986919
Broughan JM, Judge J, Ely E, Delahay RJ, Wilson G. 2016. A review of risk factors for bovine tuberculosis infection in cattle in the UK and Ireland. Epidemiology and Infection 144, 2899–2926. DOI: 10.1017/S095026881600131X
Fioravanti S, Freitas S, Costa L, Dias M. 2020. Resistance and resilience to diseases in local ruminant breeds: A focus on South America. Archivos de Zootecnia 69(267), 338–352.
Garcia-saenz A, Napp S, Lopez S, Casal J, Allepuz A. 2015. Estimation of the individual slaughterhouse surveillance sensitivity for bovine tuberculosis in Catalonia (North-Eastern Spain). Preventive Veterinary Medicine 121(3–4), 332–337. DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2015.08.008
Kapalamula TF, Kawonga F, Shawa M, Chizimu J, Thapa J, Nyenje ME, Mkakosya RS, Hayashida K, Gordon S, Nakajima C, Munyeme M, Hang’ombe BM, Suzuki Y. 2023. Prevalence and risk factors of bovine tuberculosis in slaughtered cattle, Malawi. Heliyon 9(2), e13647. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13647
Katale BZ, Mbugi EV, Kendal S, Fyumagwa RD, Kibiki GS, Godfrey-Faussett P, Keyyu JD, van Helden P, Matee MI. 2012. Bovine tuberculosis at the human-livestock-wildlife interface: Is it a public health problem in Tanzania? A review. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 79(2), 1–8. DOI: 10.4102/ojvr.v79i2.463
Kwaghe AV, Ameh JA, Kudi CA, Ambali AG, Adesokan HK, Akinseye VO, Adelakun OD, Usman JG, Cadmus SI. 2023. Prevalence and molecular characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in cattle and humans, Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria: A cross-sectional study. BMC Microbiology 23(7), 1–17. DOI: 10.1186/s12866-022-02710-y
Mckinley TJ, Lipschutz-powell D, Mitchell AP, James L, Wood N, Conlan AJK. 2018. Risk factors and variations in detection of new bovine tuberculosis breakdowns via slaughterhouse surveillance in Great Britain. 1–14.
Nalapa DP, Muwonge A, Kankya C, Olea-Popelka F. 2017. Prevalence of tuberculous lesion in cattle slaughtered in Mubende district, Uganda. BMC Veterinary Research 13(73), 1–8. DOI: 10.1186/s12917-017-0991-x
Ntivuguruzwa BJ, Michel AL, Kolo FB, Mwikarago E, Claude J, Ngabonziza S, Van Heerden H. 2022. Prevalence of bovine tuberculosis and characterization of the members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex from slaughtered cattle in Rwanda. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16(8), 1–13. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009964
Rua-Domenech R, Goodchild AT, Vordermeier HM, Hewinson RG, Christiansen KH, Clifton-Hadley RS. 2006. Ante mortem diagnosis of tuberculosis in cattle: A review of the tuberculin tests, γ-interferon assay and other ancillary diagnostic techniques. Research in Veterinary Science 81(2), 190–210. DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2005.11.005
Sawyer J, Rhodes S, Jones GJ, Hogarth PJ, Vordermeier HM. 2023. Mycobacterium bovis and its impact on human and animal tuberculosis. 1–7. DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.001769
Singhla T, Boonyayatra S. 2022. Prevalence, risk factors, and diagnostic efficacy of bovine tuberculosis in slaughtered animals at the Chiang Mai Municipal Abattoir. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 846423. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.846423
Smith K, Kleynhans L, Warren RM, Goosen WJ, Miller MA. 2021. Cell-mediated immunological biomarkers and their diagnostic application in livestock and wildlife infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Frontiers in Immunology 12, 639605. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.639605
URT. 2022. Administrative Units Population Distribution Report.
Vordermeier M, Ameni G, Berg S, Bishop R, Robertson BD, Aseffa A, Hewinson RG, Young DB. 2012. The influence of cattle breed on susceptibility to bovine tuberculosis in Ethiopia. Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 35(3), 227–232. DOI: 10.1016/j.cimid.2012.01.003
WHO. 2020. Global tuberculosis report 2020. DOI: 10.1787/f494a701-en
Woldemariam T, Pal M, Zewude A. 2021. A study on the prevalence of tuberculosis in cattle at selected abattoirs in Ethiopia. Journal of Research in Microbilogy 2(2), 9–13.
Woldemariyam FT, Markos T, Shegu D, Abdi KD, Paeshuyse J. 2021. Evaluation of postmortem inspection procedures to diagnose bovine tuberculosis at Debre Birhan Municipal Abattoir. Animals 11, 2620.
Zhang H, Liu M, Fan W, Sun S, Fan X. 2022. The impact of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in the environment on one health approach. Frontiers in Public Health 10, 1–8.
Zhu X, Wang J, Zhao Y, Zhang Z, Yan L, Xue Y, Chen Y, Robertson ID, Guo A, Aleri J. 2023. Prevalence, distribution, and risk factors of bovine tuberculosis in dairy cattle in central China. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 213, 105887. DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2023.105887
Yohana Siyajali Anatory*, Beatus Lyimo, Blandina T. Mmbaga, Joram Buza, 2026. Abattoir-based surveillance reveals geographic clustering and risk factors for bovine tuberculosis in Tanzania. Int. J. Biosci., 29(3), 11-19.
Copyright © 2026 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.