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Tuberculosis is not just a human disease. Cattle also contract a similar type of bacteria, called bovine tuberculosis. Evidence suggests that it can be transmitted from cattle to humans as well as wildlife and vice versa.
Bovine tuberculosis has been well studied in cattle. This is particularly true in Europe where the disease was very prevalent during the 19th and 20th centuries. It’s estimated that the agricultural sector, globally, has a total loss of more than US$3 billion annually due to bovine tuberculosis. In the UK more than 39,000 cattle were slaughtered after testing positive for the disease in 2016.
The disease made its way into Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries through the importation of cattle from the UK, Europe, and Australia. Now wildlife, like lions and wild dogs which prey on potentially infected animals, such as buffalo and warthogs, have also become infected.
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