Tuberculosis in Kafue lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) and in a bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) on a game ranch in Central Province, Zambia : case report

Abstract

Mycobacteriosis was diagnosed for the first time outside a national park in free-ranging wild animals on a game ranch in Zambia. A Kafue lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) was found dead with tuberculous lesions on a ranch near Lusaka. Acid-fast bacilli were found in the affected organs. Mycobacteria were isolated from these tissues. A bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) was found dead on the same ranch with multiple superficial abscesses in the neck region, extensive granulomatous lesions in the lung, the bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes and several nodular lesions in the spleen. Few acid-fast bacilli were found in the exudate from the abscesses and lesions in the affected organs. Histologically the lesions resembled those of tuberculosis, but mycobacteria could not be isolated. In addition, 1 Kafue lechwe among 37 wild ungulates of 13 species shot on the ranch showed typical tuberculous lesions in the lungs, but the diagnosis was not confirmed by bacterial isolation. The role of the Kafue lechwe as maintenance host for tuberculosis as well as in the possible spread of this disease to other wildlife are discussed.