Science Letters

Molecular detection of bovine tuberculosis in El Rank area, North Upper Nile State, Sudan

Hassan Z. A. Ishaga b, c*, Moawia Mohamed Mukhtar c, Sahar Mubarak Bakheit c

a College of Veterinary Science, University of Nyala, Sudan

b Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture,

National Center for Engineering Research on Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, 210014, China

c Institute of Endemic Diseases, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of cattle and one of the biggest challenges in the cattle industry. It is caused mainly by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), which can also infect and cause TB in other mammals. In this study, we aimed to investigate the presence of the bovine tuberculosis in the El Rank area, north upper Nile State, Sudan. The semi-structured questionnaire, conventional methods (Ziehl's-Neelsen staining, culture in Lowenstein-Jensen medium) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to detect the bovine tuberculosis in the El Rank area. The results of the semi-structured questionnaire indicated that the Kenana cattle were at a high risk of infection (50%), especially the females around the age of 3 years. For the conventional methods and PCR, a total of forty milk samples and thirty aspirated lymph node samples were investigated for the presence of the bacterium. Only 1/30 (3.3%) of lymph node samples showed the characteristic appearance of the acid fast bacilli of a serpentine cord of M. bovis. This sample also showed a growth in the Lowenstein-Jensen medium containing pyruvate. The PCR results to amplify the rpoB gene (235bp) of M. bovis showed a high sensitivity to detect the bacterium. It confirmed the presence of M. bovis in 26 (65%) of milk samples and 12 (40%) of lymph node samples. Our results confirmed the presence of M. bovis in El Rank area, north upper Nile State, Sudan and it also indicated the sensitivity of the PCR as a rapid tool to detect the infection of M. bovis.

Keywords: Bovine tuberculosis, Detection, Ziehl's-Neelsen stain, Lowenstein-Jensen medium, PCR.

Received July 5, 2013 Revised September 25, 201 Published online first October 28, 2014

*Corresponding Author Hassan Z. A. Ishag E-mail hassan8377@yahoo.com