Tuberculosis in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in the Baixo Araguari Region, Amapá, Brazil

Water buffalo are of great economic importance in Brazilian Amazonia, which has the largest herd in Brazil. Bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a zoonotic disease that results in severe losses to water buffalo production. Although the disease has already been described in the country, data on the occurrence and distribution of bovine tuberculosis in water buffalo in Brazil is very scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of bovine tuberculosis in water buffalo in the Baixo Araguari River region of Amapa, Brazil. Thirty herds, randomly selected from the 41 herds of water buffalo in the region, were sampled. From those herds, 212 randomly selected water buffalo were subjected to the comparative tuberculin skin test. The proportion of Baixo Araguari River region herds that were positive for bovine tuberculosis was 50.0% (95% CI 31.3% to 68.7%) and the proportion of animals that were positive was estimated to be 14.8% (95% CI 7.8% to 21.9%). Our results show that bovine tuberculosis is spread widely among water buffalo in the Baixo Araguari River region, which suggests that measures to control the disease should be undertaken in the region.