TB INFECTED buffalo found IN FAR NORTH of Kruger

The recent survey of the buffalo in the far north of the Kruger National Park (KNP) has revealed that bovine tuberculosis (BTB) has now spread throughout the park, with positive reactions being obtained from tested buffalo that were found as far north as the Limpopo River.

Veterinarians now estimate that between one and five percent of the buffalo in the far north of Kruger may have bovine tuberculosis. In the last survey for bovine tuberculosis in the far north of the park in 2003, there were no positive results in the animals tested.

However, because not all animals are tested and because the test is not 100 percent accurate, the veterinarians estimated that less than two percent of the buffalo might have BTB. With the new survey, several positive reactions were found from the blood test for BTB, and the animals were relocated and euthanased so that tissue samples could be taken to the laboratory to confirm that the buffalo did have the disease.

This culture test takes up to 10 weeks to give a result. According to Dr Roy Bengis, state veterinarian based at Skukuza, the disease has spread throughout Kruger faster than was initially expected.

When the vets first found BTB in Kruger’s buffalo, they studied the movement of marked animals from the southern to the central region of the park. Based on this, they estimated it would take 40 years for bovine tuberculosis to reach the top of the park, but it has only taken about 15 years to become widespread.

 However, the presence of BTB has focussed much attention on buffalo behaviour, and new research has gone into buffalo populations. This has revealed that individual buffalo and small groups of animals sometimes make unexpected long distance movements from herd to herd.

Dr Bengis says that this previously unrecognized behaviour is likely to be what has made the disease spread faster than was originally anticipated. Mozambican veterinary authorities are planning a check on the health of the buffalo in the Limpopo National Park in due course.

When the veterinarians check for bovine tuberculosis, they also sometimes do genetic analysis on the bacterium that causes the disease to see how many strains are present. In Kruger, the buffalo share the same strain, and so if diseased buffalo or cattle are found elsewhere near Kruger, but have a different strain of BTB, the veterinarians will know that they have a second source of the disease.

BTB is believed to have entered Kruger’s buffalo through contact with domestic cattle in the far south of the park. The buffalo can potentially spread the disease back to cattle if they come into contact, as happens with foot and mouth disease, although foot and mouth spreads far more readily between buffalo and cattle than bovine TB does.