Assessment of the frequency of Mycobacterium bovis shedding in the faeces of naturally and experimentally TB infected cattle.

Aims: To assess the prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis bacilli in faecal samples of tuberculous cattle, and to better understand the risk of environmental dissemination of bovine tuberculosis (TB) through the spreading of manure or slurry.

Methods And Results: Faecal samples were collected from 72 naturally infected cattle with visible lesions of TB that had reacted to the tuberculin skin test and 12 cattle experimentally infected with M. bovis.