Mycobacterium bovis Population Structure in Cattle and Local Badgers: Co-Localisation and Variation by Farm Type.

ABSTRACT: Bovine tuberculosis surveillance in Northern Ireland includes Multiple-Locus Variable number tandem repeat Analysis (MLVA) to determine the Mycobacterium bovis genetic type present in both cattle and the predominant wildlife host, the European badger (Meles meles). These data are useful for investigating clusters of infection and understanding the scale at which interspecific transmission may occur. We utilised a comprehensive dataset of routinely sampled isolates from infected cattle and from badgers killed in road-traffic accidents to investigate the spatial co-location of MLVA types in, and between, the badger and cattle populations. Furthermore, we investigated the hypothesis that the type of farming enterprise might explain some variation in this relationship. MLVA types were spatiall

SUBMITTER: Milne G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7400278 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature