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. 2023 Mar 30;13(7):1205.
doi: 10.3390/ani13071205.

Ten Years of Animal Tuberculosis Monitoring in Free-Living European Bison (Bison bonasus) in Poland

Monika Krajewska-Wędzina  1   2 , Michał K Krzysiak  3   4 , Małgorzata Bruczyńska  5   6 , Blanka Orłowska  5 , Anna Didkowska  5 , Łukasz Radulski  7 , Jan Wiśniewski  5 , Wanda Olech  8 , Aneta Nowakiewicz  2 , Mirosław Welz  9 , Stanisław Kaczor  10 , Marcin Weiner  11 , Krzysztof Anusz  5
Affiliations

Ten Years of Animal Tuberculosis Monitoring in Free-Living European Bison (Bison bonasus) in Poland

Monika Krajewska-Wędzina et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

In the period 1996-2012, two outbreaks of animal tuberculosis were noted in the population of free-living European bison (Bison bonasus caucasicus) in the Bieszczady Mountains, Southern Poland. As the European bison is an endangered species and particularly susceptible to tuberculosis, not to mention a national icon, the decision was made to test all deceased bison for TB in Poland. The screened bison were obtained by elimination due to poor health or natural death. A total of 159 European bison have been examined over the last 10 years. The individuals came from four regions of Poland (Białowieża Forest, Bieszczady Mountains, Borecka Forest, Knyszyńska Forest), not only from the area where tuberculosis is still endemic. Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium spp. hominisuis were identified in two different herds. The isolation of M. bovis from European bison was the first case described in Poland. So far, the only causative agent of tuberculosis identified in European bison in Poland, both in the wild and in captive herds, was Mycobacterium caprae. The isolated M. bovis spoligotype has not previously been registered in international spoligotype databases so far. The obtained results highlight the need to monitor TB in European bison in Poland.

Keywords: European bison; MTBC; Mycobacterium avium spp. hominissuis; Mycobacterium bovis; Poland; SB2806.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Location of the free-living herds from which the animals were tested.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Spoligotyping results. Hybridization patterns (spoligotypes) of amplified mycobacterial DNAs of a strain isolated from European bison (* Assigned by www.Mbovis.org, accessed on 4 March 2023).
Figure 3
Figure 3
MALDI-TOF results. A score value ≥ 2.0 represents high-confidence identification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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