Prevalence and Risk factors of Bovine Tuberculosis in smallholder dairy cattle in Babati town council of Manyara region, Tanzania

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2013 and January 2014 to determine the prevalence and risk factors of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in smallholder dairy farms in Babati town council. Sixty three smallholder dairy farmers were administered with questionnaires to collect information on risk factors for BTB and 186 cattle were tested for BTB using Single Intradermal Comparative Tuberculin Test (SICTT). The prevalence of BTB in herds and individual animals were 7.9% and 2.7%, respectively. Mixing of cattle from different herds (OR = 5.55; 95% CI= 2.41-38.9) and buying of cattle from farms with unknown health status (OR=3.1; 95% CI = 1.74–9.23) were among the risk factors for bovine tuberculosis. Up to 6.3% of respondents had experienced at least one human tuberculosis case in their family and 41.3% had never heard about bovine tuberculosis among which 7.7% had cattle with bovine tuberculosis in their herds. There is a need to impose mandatory BTB screening before cattle are sold. Farmers and other stakeholders need to be educated on BTB and other zoonotic diseases to minimize the risk of infection.

Keywords: BTB, SICTT, smallholder dairy farmers, Public health