Introduction
In Egypt, tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient disease, and it is known to have been present from the beginning of this civilization, over 5000 years ago, and was relatively common during the predynastic (ca.
3500-2650 BC) to the late period (ca. 1450-500 BC). The characteristic features of the disease, Pott’s deformities in the skeleton of Egyptian mummies, are also vividly depicted in early Egyptian art.The occurrence of TB throughout ancient Egypt appears to have been surprisingly high due to the dense crowding in cities at times of prosperity. A rough estimate of its prevalence in these populations also indicates an even spatial and temporal distribution in distinct ancient Egyptian populations (Zink et al. 2007). The unexpectedly high frequency of mycobacterial DNA detected in ancient human bone samples suggests the systemic spread of the mycobacteria in infected people and is indicative of the presence of generalized TB in those populations.
According to the estimates of the WHO (2012), 95% of all human TB cases and 99% of deaths due to TB occur in developing countries. Tuberculosis also has a major socioeconomic impact since 75% of people with TB are in the economically productive age group of 15-54 years. Currently, after hepatitis C and bilharziasis, human TB is the third largest killer in Egypt. Approximately 19,000 new human TB cases are reported in Egypt annually, of which, an estimated 9500 suffer from the infectious, smear-positive pulmonary form.
Bovine tuberculosis (BTB), primarily caused by M. bovis, is a chronic infectious disease of cattle that inflicts significant losses in infected herds. The bacterium can also infect a large number of other animal species including a wide variety of wildlife
A. Amin (*)
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Pathology Department, BenhaUniversity, Benha, Al Qalyubia
Governorate, Egypt
e-mail: aziza.amin@fvtm.bu.edu.eg
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
A. B.
Dibaba et al. (eds.), Tuberculosis in Animals: An African Perspective, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18690-6_13 species, and its transmission to humans constitutes a significant public health problem (Ameni et al. 2007). Bovine TB is now regarded as one of the most serious animal health problems of cattle in Egypt (Hassanain et al. 2009).According to a recent report of the General Organization of Veterinary Services (GOVS), Egypt, the annual number of BTB-infected cattle in Egypt is increasing, probably as a consequence of the importation of live animals from countries where BTB is prevalent. It is well known that zoonotic TB caused by M. bovis following ingestion of milk and other dairy products from M. bovis-infected cattle is a serious public health risk. Human infection due to the inhalation of infected droplets released by M. bovis infected animals is usually found in groups of people that are in close contact with animals, such as slaughterhouse workers and farmers (O’Reilly and Daborn 1995), and in developing countries meat handlers are also at risk to contract BTB (Hambolu et al. 2013). Transmission of M. bovis between animals, and from animals to humans, represents a major health risk given the complexity of animal husbandry and animal trade systems prevailing in Egypt.
In this chapter an overview of the significance of BTB in Egypt is presented, with emphasis on the common diagnostic tools used, prevalence of BTB and its geographical distribution, and existing BTB eradication schemes.
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