Molecular epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in Northern Ghana identifies several uncharacterized bovine spoligotypes and suggests possible zoonotic transmission
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES
Abstract
Objective
We conducted an abattoir-based cross-sectional study in the five administrative regions of
Northern Ghana to determine the distribution of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) among slaughtered carcasses and identify the possibility of zoonotic transmission.
Methods
Direct smear microscopy was done on 438 tuberculosis-like lesions from selected cattle
organs and cultured on Lowenstein-Jensen media. Acid-fast bacilli (AFB) isolates were confirmed as members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) by PCR amplification of IS6110 and rpoß. Characterization and assignment into MTBC lineage and sublineage were done by spoligotyping, with the aid of the SITVIT2, miruvntrplus and mbovis.
org databases. Spoligotype data was compared to that of clinical M. bovis isolates from the
same regions to identify similarities.
Results
A total of 319/438 (72.8%) lesion homogenates were smear positive out of which, 84.6%
(270/319) had microscopic grade of at least 1+ for AFB. Two hundred and sixty-five samples
(265/438; 60.5%) were culture positive, of which 212 (80.0%) were MTBC. Approximately 16.7% (34/203) of the isolates with correctly defined spoligotypes were negative for IS6110
PCR but were confirmed by rpoß. Spoligotyping characterized 203 isolates as M. bovis
(198, 97.5%), M. caprae (3, 1.5%), M. tuberculosis (Mtbss) lineage (L) 4 Cameroon sub-lineage, (1, 0.5%), and M. africanum (Maf) L6 (1, 0.5%). A total of 53 unique spoligotype patterns were identified across the five administrative regions (33 and 28 were identified as
orphan respectively by the SITVIT2 and mbovis.org databases), with the most dominant
spoligotype being SIT1037/ SB0944 (77/203, 37.93%). Analysis of the bovine and human
M. bovis isolates showed 75% (3/4) human M. bovis isolates sharing the same spoligotype
pattern with the bovine isolates.
Conclusion
Our study identified that approximately 29% of M. bovis strains causing BTB in Northern
Ghana are caused by uncharacterized spoligotypes. Our findings suggest possible zoonotic
transmission and highlight the need for BTB disease control in Northern Ghana.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Molecular epidemiology, bovine tuberculosis, Northern Ghana
Citation
Citation: Acquah SEK, Asare P, Danso EK, Tetteh P, Tetteh AY, Boateng D, et al. (2022) Molecular epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in Northern Ghana identifies several uncharacterized bovine spoligotypes and suggests possible zoonotic transmission. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 16(8): e0010649. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pntd.0010649