Introduction
Rwanda, located in central Eastern Africa, is a home to a variety of domestic and wild animal species (Plumptre 1994; Kading et al. 2013). Livestock in Rwanda consists mainly of cattle, small stock, and poultry, and only recently a few exotic animals such as horses were imported into the country (Rawlins et al.
2014). The number of cattle increased significantly since the launch of the Girinka program (one-cow-per-poor-family) in 2006, and more than 150,000 head of cattle have since been distributed to poor families. The program also significantly contributed to the country’s economic growth, poverty alleviation, and the reduction of child malnutrition (Argent et al. 2014; de Valk 2010). Although efforts have been made to increase the number of livestock in Rwanda, livestock production still faces a number of challenges. These include animal diseases caused by parasitic, bacterial, and viral causes, and non-infectious diseases. Bovine TB (BTB) is one of the infectious diseases that constitute a threat to animal production in Rwanda (Nshimiyima et al. 2013).Tuberculosis, a disease caused by bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium, is one of the oldest, chronic, communicable, zoonotic infectious diseases affecting both
G. Habarugira (*)
School of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda e-mail: g.habarugira@uq.net.au
J. Rukelibuga
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Influenza Program, Kigali, Rwanda
e-mail: JRukelibuga@cdc.gov
M. Nzayirambaho
School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda,
Kigali, Rwanda
e-mail: mnzayira@nursph.org
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 379
A. B. Dibaba et al. (eds.), Tuberculosis in Animals: An African Perspective, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18690-6_18 humans and animals (Thoen et al.
2008, 2014). Bovine TB is contagious and classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as a major zoonosis, and of public health concern (Boukary et al. 2011; Katigbak et al. 2005). Decreased beef and milk production and carcass condemnation at abattoirs of cattle infected with BTB cause substantial economic losses and have a significant socio-economic impact (Iredia et al. 2011).Although the disease in cattle and in humans has been considered to be of declining importance because of its successful eradication in many developed countries, its re-emergence during the course of the last three decades in both developing and some of the developed countries is alarming (Baggett 2011; Bynum 2011; Cosivi et al. 1998). Despite its public health and economic significance, its control is neglected in many developing countries in the sub-Saharan region, including Rwanda (Nshimiyima et al. 2013; Habarugira et al. 2014), where it is poorly investigated, and data on its prevalence and impact are scarce and/or poorly reported (Boukary et al. 2011; Vordermeier et al. 2012). Nevertheless, the limited available information generated by post-mortem meat inspection, intradermal tuberculin testing using bovine and avian tuberculin, and laboratory analyses (Zeru et al. 2014) shows that BTB is prevalent in both cattle and humans in these countries (Cosivi et al. 1998; Boukary et al. 2011; Chadha 1997).
This chapter aims to provide an overview and perspectives on the current status of BTB in Rwanda.
18.2
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