Tuberculosis at farmer-cattle interface in the rural villages of South Gondar Zone of northwest Ethiopia
AbstractBackgroundTuberculosis (TB) has been an important public health concern in Ethiopia, particularly at areas of human-animal intersection. However, limited epidemiological information is available in this respect in the country. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the transmission of TB at human-cattle interface, associated risk factors and public awareness about the disease at South Gondar Zone, northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted between March 2015 and April 2018 on 186 farmers and 476 cattle in South Gondar Zone, northwest Ethiopia. Bacteriological examination, region of difference (RD) 9 based polymerase chain reaction (PCR), single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SIDCTT) and questionnaire were used for undertaking this study.ResultsCulture positivity in farmers was 59.7% (111/186) and all the culture positive isolates wereM. tuberculosis. About 68% (74/111) of culture positive respondents did not know about the transmission of TB from cattle to human or vice versa. The animal and herd prevalence of bovine TB were 1.5% (7/476) and 7.4% (7/95) respectively. The odd of bovine TB in cattle owned by TB positive households was slightly higher than those owned by TB free households (adjusted odds ratio, AOR=1.39; 95% CI: 0.31-7.10; p = 0.76).ConclusionAlthough SIDCTT reactivity was slightly higher in cattle owned by TB positive households, all the human isolates wereM. tuberculosisand noM. boviswas isolated from farmers, which could be due to the low prevalence of bovine TB in the area.