Epidemiology and Drug Resistance Profile of Mycobacterium bovis in Cattle and Humans in Plateau State, Nigeria

This study investigates the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis in cattle and its spillover to human contacts in Plateau State, located in Nigeria's North Central geopolitical zone. Bovine tuberculosis is an important zoonotic disease in Nigeria, with consumption of unpasteurised milk and occupational contact with infected animals identified as the primary routes of human infection. Using a cross-sectional analytical design, 300 cattle from 20 farms were tested using the single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT). Skin thickness measurements were recorded to determine reactor status. Culture and species confirmation of M. bovis was performed from lung and lymph node samples from SICTT-positive reactors slaughtered under veterinary supervision. Drug susceptibility testing of recovered isolates was performed using the proportion method for first and second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs. Concurrently, 120 close human contacts of SICTT-positive cattle were sputum-sampled and interviewed. Whole genome sequencing was used to link human and bovine isolates. The study addresses the research gap in drug-resistant M. bovis data for Plateau State. Findings revealed a cattle-level bTB prevalence of 9.7 percent, with M. bovis confirmed from 83 percent of reactor samples. Drug-resistant isolates were detected in 18 percent of cultures. Two human contacts showed M. bovis-identical strains by WGS, confirming zoonotic transmission. Keywords: bovine tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, drug resistance, zoonosis, Plateau State.