Zoonotic Mycobacterium bovis-induced tuberculosis in humans

Müller, B., Dürr, S., Alonso, S., Hattendorf, J., Laisse, C.J.M., Parsons, S.D.C., Helden, P.D. van and Zinsstag, J. 2013. Zoonotic Mycobacterium bovis-induced tuberculosis in humans. Emerging infectious Diseases 19(6): 899-908.

We aimed to estimate the global occurrence of zoonotic tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis or M. caprae infections in humans by performing a multilingual, systematic review and analysis of relevant scientific literature of the last 2 decades. Although information from many parts of the world was not available, data from 61 countries suggested a low global disease incidence. In regions outside Africa included in this study, overall median proportions of zoonotic TB of ≤1.4% in connection with overall TB incidence rates ≤71/100,000 population/year suggested low incidence rates. For countries of Africa included in the study, we multiplied the observed median proportion of zoonotic TB cases of 2.8% with the continental average overall TB incidence rate of 264/100,000 population/year, which resulted in a crude estimate of 7 zoonotic TB cases/100,000 population/year. These generally low incidence rates notwithstanding, available data indicated substantial consequences of this disease for some population groups and settings.