T3 ONE HEALTH MALAWI Research Papers Bovine Tuberculosis


T3 ONE HEALTH MALAWI Research Papers Bovine Tuberculosis

Bovine Tuberculosis

2022

2022

  • TITLE - Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis in central parts of Malawi
  • AUTHOR - Thoko Flav Kapalamula, Joseph Chizimu, Lawrence Belotindos, Mwangala Akapelwa, Dipti Shrestha, Mirriam Ethel Nyenje, Musso Munyeme, Bernard Mudenda Hang‚ Rajhab Sawasawa Mkakosya, Stephen V. Gordon, Chie Nakajima, Yasuhiko Suzuki
  • JOURNAL - Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
  • ABSTRACT - Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a neglected disease that affects cattle and humans. The burden of bTB is higher in developing countries as compared to industrialized countries. The reasons behind this discrepancy include the fact that bTB control measures, such as testing and slaughter of infected cattle and pasteurization of milk, are not usually practised in developing countries largely because of their high cost. To improve our understanding of bTB in developing countries, molecular typing studies are essential, in particular in terms of transmission dynamics, infection sources and knowledge of circulating strains of the principal causative agent, Mycobacterium bovis. In this study, we applied a suite of molecular typing techniques encompassing deletion analysis, spoligotyping and MIRU‚ÄêVNTR to isolates recovered from samples collected during the routine post‚Äêmortem of cattle at the cold storage abattoir in Lilongwe, Malawi. Out of 63 isolates, 51 (81%) belonged to the European 1. M. bovis clonal complex. Spoligotyping identified 8 profiles, with SB0131 being the predominant type (56% of isolates). Spoligotypes SB0273 and SB0425 were identified in 14% and 13%, respectively, of the isolates. MIRU‚ÄêVNTR showed a high discriminatory power of 0.959 and differentiated the 8 spoligotypes to 31 genotypes. The high diversity of M. bovis within the study area suggests the infection has been circulating in the area for a considerable period of time, likely facilitated by the lack of effective control measures. We also observed genetic similarities between isolates from Malawi (this study) to isolates described in previous studies in Zambia and Mozambique, suggesting transmission links in this region. The information provided by this study provides much needed evidence for the formulation of improved bTB control strategies.
  • ISSUE - 3
  • VOLUME - 69
  • DOI - 10.1111/tbed.14127

2021

  • TITLE - Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for specific detection of Mycobacterium bovis
  • AUTHOR - Thoko Flav Kapalamula, Jeewan Thapa, Mwangala Lonah Akapelwa, Kyoko Hayashida, Stephen V. Gordon, Bernard Mudenda Hang' ombe, Musso Munyeme, Eddie Samuneti Solo, Precious Bwalya, Mirriam Ethel Nyenje, Aki Tamaru, Yasuhiko Suzuki, Chie Nakajima
  • JOURNAL - PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • ABSTRACT - Bovine tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a significant health threat to cattle and a zoonotic threat for humans in many developing countries. Rapid and accurate detection of M. bovis is fundamental for controlling the disease in animals and humans, and for the proper treatment of patients as one of the first-line anti-TB drug, pyrazinamide, is ineffective against M. bovis. Currently, there are no rapid, simplified and low-cost diagnostic methods that can be easily integrated for use in many developing countries. Here, we report the development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for specific identification of M. bovis by targeting the region of difference 4 (RD4), a 12.7 kb genomic region that is deleted solely in M. bovis. The assay's specificity was evaluated using 139 isolates comprising 65 M. bovis isolates, 40 M. tuberculosis isolates, seven M. tuberculosis complex reference strains, 22 non-tuberculous mycobacteria and five other bacteria. The established LAMP detected only M. bovis isolates as positive and no false positives were observed using the other mycobacteria and non-mycobacteria tested. Our LAMP assay detected as low as 10 copies of M. bovis genomic DNA within 40 minutes. The procedure of LAMP is simple with an incubation at a constant temperature. Results are observed with the naked eye by a color change, and there is no need for expensive equipment. The established LAMP can be used for the detection of M. bovis infections in cattle and humans in resource-limited areas.
  • ISSUE - 1
  • VOLUME - 15
  • DOI - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008996



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