ABSTRACT
Mycobacterial infection can clinically affect a wide range of animal species including humans, and several mycobacterial species have the potential to cause zoonotic disease. The main aim of eradication of bovine tuberculosis from countries where the disease is endemic has proved to be challenging. Mycobacteria can infect a very broad range of hosts. M. bovis, which is the main agent responsible for tuberculosis in domestic animals and wildlife, has the broadest host range of the Mycobacterium complex group. The main route of transmission in Ethiopia between animals and man is the ingestion of unpasteurized milk, leading to the development of the extrapulmonary form of tuberculosis in humans. The disease was first reported in farmed deer in New Zealand and currently tuberculosis is considered to be the most important bacterial disease in farmed deer in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
