Diagnosis of Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Deer through Blood Samples

• Main Authors: Te-Yu Chan, 詹德裕
• Other Authors: Chian-Ren Jeng
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/39059827088057173557

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 獸醫學研究所 === 99 === Intradermal tuberculin test (ITT) is the official test for diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis in Taiwan. ITT is a cell-mediated immune response that acquires two times of restraint and handling the animal to complete the examination, and safety issue is always concerned in non-domestic animal like deer or wildlife to perform this test. In addition, repeated or confirmed ITT test in the previous ITT positive animal should be performed in three months later which results in a significant drawback in the aspect of disease control and eradication. Using blood samples to perform enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may provide an alternative assay to correct the shortcomings of ITT. In this study, blood samples collected from cattle and deer were tested by PCR and ELISA, and the results were subsequently correlated with the results of pathology, microbiology and PCR in the tissue examined. Using culture results as the golden standard in 147 ITT positive cattle, the sensitivity of PCR in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was 7.7% (2/26) and the specificity was 95.0% (115/121), the sensitivity of the ELISA was 0% (0/26) and the specificity was 95.0% (115/121). Under the same conditions of 17 deer, the sensitivity of PCR in PBMC was 0% (0/7) and the specificity was 100% (10/10), the sensitivity of the ELISA was 85.7% (6/7) and the specificity was 50% (5/10). In deer, the correlation coefficient between ELISA and ITT was 0.647(substantial agreement), and the correlation coefficient between ELISA and culture was also 0.647 (substantial agreement). Therefore, the blood tests for Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle maybe not so helpful; however, blood tests are effective to detect Mycobacterium bovis infection in deer.