Prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis in Cattle Slaughtered at Sokoto Central Abattoir

This study was undertaken to screen cattle slaughtered at the Sokoto Central Abattoir for antibodies against Mycobacterium bovis . By the lateral flow technique (immunochromatography), using monoclonal antibodies for M. bovis (BioNote, Inc. Gyeonggi-do, Korea) and by post mortem examination. A total of 194 slaughtered cattle were randomly selected (using systematic sampling technique) and screened. Eight (4.12%) were positive for antibodies against M. bovis . No lesions suggestive of bovine tuberculosis were found during post mortem inspection. More females than males appear to have M. bovis antibodies (p 0.005). This study indicate an increase (from 0.69% to 4.12%) in the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in the study area. The public health implications of this findings is that infected animals in the past have been slaughtered and consumed undetected; this will continue to be so long as the relevant authorities do not improve on the current methods of ante mortem screening animals for tuberculosis. Keywords : Antibodies, Cattle, Prevalence, Post mortem examination, Slaughter, Sokoto, Tuberculosis