BCG vaccination failed to protect yearling African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) against experimental intratonsilar challenge with Mycobacterium bovis.

Vaccination has been discussed as a practical option to control bovine tuberculosis in countries where a wildlife reservoir of the disease is present. African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) are the main wildlife reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis in certain South African game parks and vaccination is not only the most promising but the only ethically acceptable control measure currently available. The use of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine (Pasteur strain) to vaccinate fourteen African buffalo yearlings and their reactions to subsequent intratonsilar challenge with a field strain of M.

Bovine tuberculosis in African buffaloes: observations regarding Mycobacterium bovis shedding into water and exposure to environmental mycobacteria.

Background: African buffaloes are the maintenance host for Mycobacterium bovis in the endemically infected Kruger National Park (KNP). The infection is primarily spread between buffaloes via the respiratory route, but it is not known whether shedding of M. bovis in nasal and oral excretions may lead to contamination of ground and surface water and facilitate the transmission to other animal species.

The gamma-interferon test: its usefulness in a bovine tuberculosis survey in African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) in the Kruger National Park.

A survey to determine the bovine tuberculosis status of buffalo herds north of the Olifants River in the Kruger National Park was conducted, using a new diagnostic approach. Diagnosis of Mycobacterium bovis infection was accomplished using the gamma-interferon assay technique in 608 adult buffaloes out of a total of 29 discreet herds. The animals were immobilized in groups of 10-15, bled, individually marked and then revived and released on site.