Experimental Mycobacterium bovis infection in three white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) : susceptibility, clinical and anatomical pathology
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Date
Authors
Michel, Anita Luise
Lane, Emily P.
De Klerk-Lorist, Lin-Mari
Hofmeyr, Markus
Van der Heijden, Elisabeth M.D.L.
Botha, Louise
Van Helden, Paul David
Miller, Michele
Buss, Peter Erik
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
Tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis is endemic in the African buffalo (Syncerus
caffer) population in the Kruger National Park and other conservation areas in South Africa.
The disease has been diagnosed in a total of 21 free ranging or semi-free ranging wildlife
species in the country with highly variable presentations in terms of clinical signs as well as
severity and distribution of tuberculous lesions. Most species are spillover or dead-end
hosts without significant role in the epidemiology of the disease. White rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium
simum) are translocated from the Kruger National Park in substantial numbers
every year and a clear understanding of their risk to manifest overt tuberculosis disease and
to serve as source of infection to other species is required. We report the findings of experimental
infection of three white rhinoceroses with a moderately low dose of a virulent field
isolate of Mycobacterium bovis. None of the animals developed clinical signs or disseminated
disease. The susceptibility of the white rhinoceros to bovine tuberculosis was confirmed
by successful experimental infection based on the ante mortem isolation of M. bovis
from the respiratory tract of one rhinoceros, the presence of acid-fast organisms and necrotizing
granulomatous lesions in the tracheobronchial lymph nodes and the detection of M.
bovis genetic material by PCR in the lungs of two animals.
Description
S1 Table. Macroscopic, culture, molecular, and histological findings in experimentally
infected rhinoceros PB1.
S2 Table. Macroscopic, culture, molecular, and histological findings in experimentally infected rhinoceros PB2.
S3 Table. Macroscopic, culture, molecular, and histological findings in experimentally infected rhinoceros PB4.
S4 Table. Macroscopic, culture, molecular, and histological findings in 11 control rhinoceroses.
S2 Table. Macroscopic, culture, molecular, and histological findings in experimentally infected rhinoceros PB2.
S3 Table. Macroscopic, culture, molecular, and histological findings in experimentally infected rhinoceros PB4.
S4 Table. Macroscopic, culture, molecular, and histological findings in 11 control rhinoceroses.
Keywords
Mycobacterium bovis, Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa (SA), Tuberculosis (TB), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum)
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Michel, A.L., Lane, E.P., De Klerk-Lorist, L.M., Hofmeyr, M., Van der Heijden, E.M.D.L., Botha, L., Van Helden, P., Miller, M. & Buss, P. (2017) Experimental Mycobacterium bovis
infection in three white rhinoceroses
(Ceratotherium simum): Susceptibility, clinical and
anatomical pathology. PLoS ONE 12(7): e0179943.
https://DOI.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0179943.