Prevalence of Tuberculosis in Sheep and Goats in Punjab Pakistan. Imtiaz Ahmad 1, M. Tariq Javed 1 *, Monica Cagiola 2, Amer Munir 1 and Razia Kausar 3 1 Department of Pathology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. 2 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche, Perugia, Italy. 3 Department of Anatomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. ABSTRACT Bovine tuberculosis remains a significant world wide concern for public health officials, agricultural managers, veterinarians, farmers and hunters. Therefore, it is imperative to keep on monitoring the disease situation in domestic and farm animals. This study was carried out to assess the situation of tuberculosis in sheep and goats kept at various livestock farms in the Punjab, Pakistan. The single cervical tuberculin test was used for recording prevalence of disease. A total of 4729 sheep and 1455 goats at 7 sheep and 4 goat farms were tested. The prevalence varied significantly (P = ; X 2 = 42.63) between sheep farms with a prevalence of 3.5% at farm 7, 1.11% at farm 2, while below 1% at farms 1 and 3-6. The total number of sheep tested at farms 1 – 7 were, 1147, 270, 401, 1251, 760, 440 and 460, respectively. Sheep of four different breeds were kept at these farms and prevalence varied significantly (P = 0.05 ; X 2 = 9.24) among them with 1.38%, 0.92, 0% and 0% in Kajli, Thalli, Pak-Karakul and Kacchi breeds. The prevalence of tuberculosis varied significantly (P = 0.03 ; X 2 = 8.71) between goat farms with prevalence of 3.41% at farm 1, 0.93% at farm 2, 3.8% at farm 3 and 2.5% at farm 4. The total number of goats tested at these farms were 410, 535, 235 and 275, respectively. Goats of five different breeds were kept at these farms and prevalence varied significantly among breeds (P = 0.05 ; X 2 = 9.24) with a prevalence of 4.2% in Beetal, 2.9% in Teddy, 1.2% in Pak-Angora and 0% in both Nachi and Dera Din Penah. The overall prevalence of 2.4% and 0.91% was observed in goats and sheep, respectively. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on prevalence of tuberculosis in small ruminants from Pakistan involving a larger sample size. Introduction Pakistan has about 52.8 million heads of goats (1). Goat rearing is the main source of milk for the poor and its milk is preferred over sheep milk. There are many reasons why goat rearing can not develop into a farming system, one is the prevalence of diseases. However, tuberculosis status is not very well known in small ruminants in many parts of the country. Bovine tuberculosis is a world wide disease and is of serious concern in developing countries. Limited previous studies in Pakistan were carried out and a 2% prevalence was found in 1986 in sheep (2). The prevalence of the disease from other parts of the world is reported to be 3.7 % in feral goats, 0.4% in farmed goats (3) and 7% in South Canterbury Angora goats (4). Due to the zoonotic importance of the disease and scarcity of information in Pakistan, the need to carry out an investigation to know the current status of the disease at farm level was strongly felt. Materials and Methods Animals A total of 4 goat farms and 7 sheep farms were included in the study. In fact,at three farms, both sheep and goats are kept together and only at one farm goats are kept separately. A total of 1455 goats and 4729 sheep at these farms were tested. Farms are located in different zones of the Punjab Province. The goat breeds kept at these farms are Teddy (682), Pak-Angora (430), Nachi (45), Dera Din Penah (60) and Beetal (238). The sheep breeds kept at these farms are Thalli (2158), Pak-Karakul (860), Kacchi (51) and Kajli (1660). Tuberculin skin test. The single cervical intradermal skin test was performed using bovine ( I.U. /ml) PPD produced at a licensed laboratory in Italy and results were read and interpreted according to standard protocol (6). Statistical Analysis. The chi-square test was applied to analyse the data by using EpiCalc 2000 version 1.02, a free-ware software. Conclusions Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease and of great significance, as it causes great economic losses through poor carcasses, low quality hide and skin, decreased milk yield and poor productivity. For its control, knowledge about its prevalence is important. The aim of the present study was to find out the prevalence of tuberculosis in farm settings. We found a lower prevalence of disease in small ruminants than expected owing to the results obtained in large ruminants, i.e., cattle and buffaloes (5). However, the prevalence in goats was higher at farms where other animal species including sheep, cattle and buffaloes altogether were present at two farms, 3.41% and 3.8 % compared with the farms were goats were kept with sheep (2.5 % and 0.93 %). Similarly, in sheep, the prevalence was higher when sheep were kept with goats, cattle and buffalo altogether at one farm with 0.78, 1.11 and 3.5 % prevalence, compared with 0.74 and 0.92 where sheep were kept with cattle, 0.39 % where sheep were kept with goats and 0% where sheep were kept with buffaloes. As far as management practices are concerned, they were more or less similar with regards grazing hours and access of wild animals like dogs and wild. However, the grazing area at most farms where large animals are also kept is shared at alternate intervals and sometimes simultaneously. We can state on the basis of the present study that Beetal and Teddy breed of goats are more susceptible than other goat breeds and similarly, nor can we state that the Kajli breed of sheep is more susceptible to Mycobacteria than other breeds. The reason being that the Beetal and Teddy goat breeds were mostly kept at farms where other large animals were also kept and the same can be said for Kajli breed of sheep. However, further studies are required before a final conclusion can be made. At the same time it is difficult to compare the results of prevalence recorded in farm settings with previous reports from a study of abatoirs in Pakistan in which only 100 sheep and goats respectively were examined and a 2 % prevalence in sheep while 0 % in goats was recorded (2). Results An overall prevalence of 0.91% in sheep and 2.4% in goats was recorded. The results with reference to prevalence at farms and breeds are presented in bar diagrams. Prevalence of tuberculosis varied from 0.93% to 3.41% at goat farms and 0% to 3.5% at sheep farms. Breed wise prevalence varied from 0% to 4.2% in goat breeds, while 0% to 1.38% in sheep breeds. The result s showed that Beetal breed of goat (P<0.05) and Kajli (P<0.005) breed of sheep had a significantly higher prevalence. Referrences 1. Economic Survey (2003). Economic Survey of Pakistan. Economic Advisory Wing, Ministry of Planning & Dev. Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Ashraf, M., Khan, M. Z., Chishti, M. A. (1986). Incidence and pathology of lungs affected with tuberculosis and hydatidosis in sheep and goats. Pakistan Vet. J. 6(3): Allen, G. M. (1987). Tuberculosis in feral goats. Surveillance, New-Zealand 14(1): Edington, J. (1989). Tuberculosis in a South Canterbury Goat Flock. Surveillance-Wellington,16(1): Javed, M.T., Usman, M., Cagiola, M., Ahmad, I., Irfan, M. (2004). A Study on Tuberculosis in Buffaloes: Some Epidemiological Aspects Along with Haematological and Serum Protein Changes. Proceedings 7th World Buffalo Congress, October, Makati, Shangri-LA Hotel, Ayala, Avenue, Makati city, Philippine. pp: Anonymous. (2000). Manual of standards for diagnostic tests and vaccines of World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), 4 th edition X 2 = P = 0.03 X 2 = P = 0.05 X 2 = P = X 2 = P = Acknowledgements 1.This study was funded by the Pakistan Science Foundation, under project head P-AU/AGR (283) which is highly acknowledged. 2.The PPDs was provided by the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche, Perugia, Italy as part of collaborative research and is highly acknowledged.