Naturally occurring tuberculosis in white-tailed deer

Naturally occurring tuberculosis in white-tailed deer

To determine the distribution of lesions and extent of tissues infected with Mycobacterium bovis in a captive population of white-tailed deer. Cross-sectional study. 116 captive white-tailed deer. Deer were euthanatized, and postmortem examinations were performed. Tissues with gross lesions suggesti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association Vol. 216; no. 12; pp. 1921 - 1924
Main Authors: Palmer, M.V, Whipple, D.L, Payeur, J.B, Alt, D.P, Esch, K.J, Bruning-Fann, C.S, Kaneene, J.B
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 15-06-2000
Subjects:
age differences
animal tissues
Animals
Autopsy - veterinary
Carnivora
Cross-Sectional Studies
Deer
disease prevalence
Female
gender differences
lesions
Lymph Nodes - microbiology
Lymph Nodes - pathology
Male
Michigan - epidemiology
Mycobacterium bovis
Mycobacterium bovis - isolation & purification
necropsy
Odocoileus virginianus
Palatine Tonsil - microbiology
Prevalence
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis - epidemiology
Tuberculosis - microbiology
Tuberculosis - pathology
Tuberculosis - veterinary
Michigan
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Summary:To determine the distribution of lesions and extent of tissues infected with Mycobacterium bovis in a captive population of white-tailed deer. Cross-sectional study. 116 captive white-tailed deer. Deer were euthanatized, and postmortem examinations were performed. Tissues with gross lesions suggestive of tuberculosis were collected for microscopic analysis and bacteriologic culture. Tissues from the head, thorax, and abdomen of deer with no gross lesions were pooled for bacteriologic culture. Tonsillar, nasal, oral, and rectal swab specimens, fecal samples, and samples of hay and pelleted feed, soil around feeding sites, and water from 2 natural ponds were collected for bacteriologic culture. Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from 14 of 116 (12%) deer; however, only 9 of 14 had lesions consistent with tuberculosis. Most commonly affected tissues included the medial retropharyngeal lymph node and lung. Five of 14 tuberculous deer had no gross lesions; however, M bovis was isolated from pooled tissue specimens from the heads of each of these deer. Bacteriologic culture of tonsillar swab specimens from 2 of the infected deer yielded M bovis. Mean (+/- SEM) age of tuberculous deer was 2.5 +/- 0.3 years (range, 0.5 to 6 years). Mycobacterium bovis was not isolated from feed, soil, water, or fecal samples. Examination of hunter-killed white-tailed deer for tuberculosis commonly includes only the lymph nodes of the head. Results of such examinations may underestimate disease prevalence by as much as 57%. Such discrepancy should be considered when estimating disease prevalence.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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content type line 23
ISSN:0003-1488
1943-569X
DOI:10.2460/javma.2000.216.1921