Tuberculosis in humans and animals is an ancient contagious disease, with a worldwide distribution.

The cause of the disease in cattle, Mycobacterium bovis, has a wide host range that include domesticated animals, wildlife, and humans in which it has been categorized as a neglected zoonosis.

Before the detection of the presence of indigenous Af1 and Af2 strains of M. bovis that existed in Western and Eastern Africa before colonization, it was for long assumed that BTB was introduced by the settlers into the various African countries during the time of colonialism. During that time, it became a well- known livestock disease in many parts of Africa. Currently, the disease is present in many African countries but, due to the lack of financial and human resources, and the political will, only a few of them attempt to apply adequate control measures. As

A. B. Dibaba (*)

Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL, USA

e-mail: adibaba@tuskegee.edu

C. J. Daborn

Tigoni Veterinary Services, Nairobi, Kenya

e-mail: tvs@habari.co.tz

S. Cadmus

Tuberculosis and Brucellosis Research Laboratories, Department of Veterinary Public Health & Preventive Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

A. Michel

Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa

e-mail: anita.michel@up.ac.za

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 15

A. B. Dibaba et al. (eds.), Tuberculosis in Animals: An African Perspective, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18690-6_2 a consequence, the extent and the epidemiology of BTB in Africa are largely unknown, and the disease, with few exceptions, is mostly diagnosed during meat inspection in abattoirs and by the very limited use of routine tuberculin skin testing.

According to the OIE's WAHID, 24 of the member countries failed to provide any information about the presence of BTB in their country during the course of time, and it remains unknown whether the infection is present in them.

Bovine TB in Africa is a regional threat, particularly at the human-livestock­wildlife interface. Few countries in Africa are currently conducting BTB eradication schemes, and those that do, most do not adhere to the OIE-based norms and standards for the successful control of the disease. The limited attention given to BTB and zoonotic TB in Africa against the background of its projected, almost unbridled increase in the numbers of its inhabitants has the potential for them in the future to become overwhelming animal and public health problems. These important but neglected diseases are likely to have a detrimental effect on the general popula­tion far in excess of what is currently perceived to be the case; this is because, by choice, the extent and the importance of a disease in livestock and humans that has been present from antiquity remain largely unknown and uncontrolled in Africa.

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