| Popis: |
There is a substantial amount of epidemiological information available about tuberculosis in cattle, other domestic animals, and wild animals in Africa. However, the information is often incomplete, fragmented, historical, contradictory, and difficult to access. The purpose of this chapter is to collate the available information, highlighting the contradictions, signposting the direction of further studies, and making the existing knowledge more readily available to those with an interest in the epidemiology and control of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in Africa. It is clear that chronic diseases such as BTB are difficult to investigate because animals with the disease can survive for years with, and often without, clinical signs. Its wide host range is another challenge, as are the varying interspecies transmission patterns and the marked variation in susceptibility of various host species. The Epidemiologic Problem Oriented Approach (EPOA) methodology was applied to examine the complexity of the epidemiology of BTB, with special reference to Africa, and this information is presented in this chapter. |
