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Pests and Diseases

Bovine Tuberculosis

Bacterial Diseases of Livestock

A chronic bacterial disease of cattle, caused by Mycobacterium bovis, that can also infect a wide range of other mammals, including badgers, deer and, occasionally, humans through unpasteurized dairy products. Test and slaughter eradication programs have eliminated or greatly reduced it in many developed countries, but persistent wildlife reservoirs, notably badgers in parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, have made complete eradication difficult and costly.

Facts
Classification
Agent Kind
Bacterium 1
Connections

Associated With

Cattle, Livestock

Bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) is a chronic, zoonotic wasting disease of cattle herds.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Bovine tuberculosis
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Opening definition paragraph
    Mycobacterium bovis is a slow-growing aerobic bacterium and the causative agent of tuberculosis in cattle. It is related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium which causes tuberculosis in humans. M. bovis can jump the species barrier and cause tuberculosis-like infection in humans and other mammals.
  • lead description
    A chronic bacterial disease of cattle, caused by Mycobacterium bovis, that can also infect a wide range of other mammals, including badgers, deer and, occasionally, humans through unpasteurized dairy products.
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