Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) affects cattle and wildlife in South Africa with the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) as the principal maintenance host. The presence of a wildlife maintenance host at the wildlife/livestock interface acting as spill-over host makes it much more challenging to control and eradicate bTB in cattle. Spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number of tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) genotyping methods were performed to investigate the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) isolates from cattle and wildlife, their distribution and transmission at the wildlife/livestock interface in northern Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), South Africa. SB0130 was identified as the dominant spoligotype pattern at this wildlife/livestock interface, while VNTR typing revealed a total of 29 VNTR profiles (strains) in the KZN province signifying high genetic variability. The detection of 5 VNTR profiles shared between cattle and buffalo suggests M. bovis transmission between species. MIRU-VNTR confirmed co-infection in one cow with three strains of M. bovis that differed at a single locus, with 2 being shared with buffalo, implying pathogen introduction from most probably unrelated wildlife sources. Our findings highlight inter and intra species transmission of bTB at the wildlife/livestock interface and the need for the implementation of adequate bTB control measures to mitigate the spread of the pathogen responsible for economic losses and a public health threat.

中文翻译：

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在南非的野生动植物/牲畜交界处追踪牛分枝杆菌的跨物种传播。

牛结核病（bTB）以南非水牛（Syncerus caffer）为主要维护宿主，影响了南非的牛和野生动植物。野生动物/牲畜界面上有野生生物维护主机充当溢出主机，这使得控制和根除牛中的bTB更具挑战性。进行了Spoligotyping和分枝杆菌穿插重复单位可变重复串联重复次数（MIRU-VNTR）基因分型方法，以研究牛和野生动物牛分枝杆菌（M. bovis）分离株的遗传多样性，它们在野生动植物/牲畜界面的分布和传播在南非夸祖鲁纳塔尔（KZN）北部。SB0130被确定为该野生动植物/牲畜界面的主要掠夺型模式，VNTR分型显示KZN省共有29个VNTR图谱（菌株），表明其高遗传变异性。在牛和水牛之间共有5个VNTR图谱的检测表明，牛分枝杆菌在种间传播。MIRU-VNTR证实一头牛与三株牛分枝杆菌的共同感染，这三株牛分枝杆菌在单个位点不同，其中两株与水牛共有，这意味着病原体可能是从最不相关的野生动植物来源引入的。我们的研究结果突出了野生生物/畜牧界界面中bTB的种间和种内传播，以及需要采取适当的bTB控制措施以减轻造成经济损失和公共卫生威胁的病原体扩散的需要。牛种之间的传播。MIRU-VNTR证实一头牛与三株牛分枝杆菌的共同感染，这三株牛分枝杆菌在单个位点不同，其中两株与水牛共有，这意味着病原体可能是从最不相关的野生动植物来源引入的。我们的研究结果突出了野生生物/畜牧界界面中bTB的种间和种内传播，以及需要采取适当的bTB控制措施以减轻造成经济损失和公共卫生威胁的病原体扩散的需要。牛种之间的传播。MIRU-VNTR证实一头牛与三株牛分枝杆菌的共同感染，这三株牛分枝杆菌在单个位点不同，其中两株与水牛共有，这意味着病原体可能是从最不相关的野生动植物来源引入的。我们的研究结果突出了野生生物/畜牧界界面中bTB的种间和种内传播，以及需要采取适当的bTB控制措施以减轻造成经济损失和公共卫生威胁的病原体扩散的需要。