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Fasciola hepatica is associated with the failure to detect bovine tuberculosis in dairy cattle

Author

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  • Jen Claridge

    (Institute of Infection and Global Health and School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool)

  • Peter Diggle

    (Institute of Infection and Global Health and School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool
    Lancaster Medical School, University of Lancaster)

  • Catherine M. McCann

    (Institute of Infection and Global Health and School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool
    Present address: Division of Agriculture, Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, Morne Fortune, Castries, St Lucia, West Indies;)

  • Grace Mulcahy

    (School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin)

  • Rob Flynn

    (School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin
    Present address: School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, LE12 5RD, UK.)

  • Jim McNair

    (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute)

  • Sam Strain

    (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute)

  • Michael Welsh

    (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute)

  • Matthew Baylis

    (Institute of Infection and Global Health and School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool)

  • Diana J.L. Williams

    (Institute of Infection and Global Health and School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool)

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a significant and intractable disease of cattle caused by Mycobacterium bovis. In the United Kingdom, despite an aggressive eradication programme, the prevalence of BTB is increasing with an unexplained, exponential rise in cases year on year. Here we show in a study involving 3,026 dairy herds in England and Wales that there is a significant negative association between exposure to the common, ubiquitous helminth parasite, Fasciola hepatica and diagnosis of BTB. The magnitude of the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test used to diagnose BTB is reduced in cattle experimentally co-infected with M. bovis and F. hepatica. We estimate an under-ascertainment rate of about one-third (95% confidence interval 27–38%) among our study farms, in the hypothetical situation of no exposure to F. hepatica. This finding may in part explain the continuing spread of BTB and the failure of the current eradication programme in the United Kingdom.

Suggested Citation

  • Jen Claridge & Peter Diggle & Catherine M. McCann & Grace Mulcahy & Rob Flynn & Jim McNair & Sam Strain & Michael Welsh & Matthew Baylis & Diana J.L. Williams, 2012. "Fasciola hepatica is associated with the failure to detect bovine tuberculosis in dairy cattle," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 3(1), pages 1-8, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:3:y:2012:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1840
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1840
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter J Atkins & Philip A Robinson, 2013. "Coalition Culls and Zoonotic Ontologies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(6), pages 1372-1386, June.
    2. Peter J. Diggle & Emanuele Giorgi, 2016. "Model-Based Geostatistics for Prevalence Mapping in Low-Resource Settings," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 111(515), pages 1096-1120, July.

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