**Epidemiology of Wildlife Tuberculosis**

270 Epidemiology Insights

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**14** 

*1,2Portugal 3Spain* 

**Wildlife Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review** 

**of the Epidemiology in Iberian Peninsula** 

*School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga* 

*2Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal – Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (CIISA/FMV), TULisbon, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, Lisbon 3IREC National Wildlife Research Institute (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ciudad Real* 

*Mycobacterium bovis* is the main etiological agent of bovine tuberculosis, infecting many species of wild and domestic mammals and also man. Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic and contagious infectious disease that has been reported to infect wild ungulates, carnivores, marsupials and primates (de Lisle *et al*., 2002). Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) also occurs worldwide in livestock (Humblet *et al*., 2009), causing annual economic losses estimated at 3 billion USD in 1995 (Steele, 1995). It remains a serious risk for animal health, and a threat for human health in many developing countries (Etter *et al*., 2006). Several countries successfully eradicated bovine tuberculosis in livestock through test-and-slaughter and/or abattoir surveillance programs. Yet other countries, using similar strategies, did not achieve eradication and some even face the re-emergence of the disease (Schiller *et al*., 2010). In Europe for instance, the prevalence of bTB in cattle is increasing in several countries (Gordejo & Vermeersch, 2006). Moreover current eradication and control programs in livestock in Europe are facing a range of challenges as stamping out is becoming a less attractive option for economic and environmental reasons and due to animal welfare

Some of the abovementioned difficulties in eradicating bTB in cattle may relate with the occurrence of the disease in wildlife (Schiller *et al*., 2010). In fact it has been demonstrated that the complete elimination of bTB can be extremely complicated by persistent infection of wild hosts, such as badgers in the United Kingdom, white tailed deer in the United States and brushtail possum in New Zealand (Corner, 2006). The single successful example of bTB eradication in a wildlife host is the Australian case, where it was accomplished through stamping out, which eliminated introduced water buffalo *Bubalus arnee*, the only maintenance host in that ecosystem, (Corner, 2006). This is not an option when autochthonous, protected or economic and socially valuable species are involved (Artois *et al*., 2001). In most cases, an integrated control program is needed (Horan *et al*.,

**1. Introduction** 

concerns (Whiting, 2003).

Nuno Santos1, Margarida Correia-Neves1, Virgílio Almeida2 and Christian Gortázar3 *1Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS)* 
