Mycobacterium bovis and M. tuberculosis in Goats, Nigeria

cott MJ. Fatal spirochetosis due to a relapsing fever−like Borrelia sp. in a northern spotted owl. of tick-borne relapsing fever caused by Borrelia hermsii. al. Variable tick protein in two genomic groups of the relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia hermsii in western North Ameri-ca. To the Editor: Documentation of possible tuberculosis (TB) in goats in Nigeria was reported by Ojo (1) on the basis of gross lesions without culture confi rmation. Livestock owners in Nigeria normally graze cattle and goats together, and this practice poses a high risk for transmission of bovine TB among these animals (1). This practice is especially a threat to goats in Nigeria because several reports have described bovine TB in cattle in Nigeria (2–5). However, reports of diagnosis of TB in goats in Nigeria are lacking. Molecular epidemiologic techniques such as deletion typing and spoligotyping have been used to characterize members of the Mycobac-terium tuberculosis complex (MTC) and to provide information on transmission of mycobacterial diseases between animals and humans (6). However , because of limited resources and lack of expertise, these techniques are not commonly used in most developing nations such as Nigeria, where TB is endemic (3). Because slaughterhouses provide excellent opportunities for detecting diseases of economic and public health importance, we investigated the presence of mycobacteria in slaughtered goats with lesions suggestive of TB. The investigation was conducted at the Bodija Municipal Abattoir in Ibadan in southwestern Nigeria over a period of 6 months. Slaughtered goats were obtained from local herds and herds in northern Nigeria. A total of 10,389 male and female goats of 2 breeds (West African Dwarf and Red Sokoto) and 1–2 years of age were slaughtered; 1,387 were inspected for gross lesions of TB. Of 1,387 animals screened, 62 (4.47%) had lesions suggestive of TB in the liver, lungs, and mesenter-ic lymph nodes. Five (0.36%) goats were confi rmed positive by culture as described (2). Deletion typing (6) with the RD9 deletion was used to distinguish M. tuberculosis from other members of the MTC. Those isolates with a deletion in this region were further investigated with primers specifi c for RD4. This reaction distinguishes between M. bovis, M. caprae, and other members of the MTC. Spoligotyp-ing was performed as described (7) to type an M. tuberculosis isolate from a goat after identifi cation of this bacterium by deletion typing. We isolated 4 strains of M. bovis and 1 strain …