[Zoonotic tuberculosis in Argentina]

Abstract

There are significant achievements in the control of animal tuberculosis (tB) in Argentina. the percentage of bovines with apparent tB lesions at the slaughterhouse inspection decreased from 6.7% to 0.6% between 1969 and 2011. on the other hand, the mean percentage of human tB cases due to M. bovis among all those bacteriologically confirmed, was in Santa Fe, an agro-industrial province, 2.3% in the period 1977-2001. It fell to 1.6% by 2011. In the Cetrángolo Hospital (Buenos Aires), it was 0.34% in the period 2001-2005, and 0.36% in 2006-2011. At the Muñiz Hospital, these percentages decreased from 1.75% in 1971 to 0.22% in 2006. Frequency of HIV infection among M. bovis cases varied from 5.9% in santa Fe to 11.1% and 20.5% respectively, in Cetrángolo and Muñiz Hospitals (a reference institution for aids) in Buenos Aires. According to these data M. bovis infection predominates in agro-industrial/ rural areas, showing a slow decrease there as well as in Buenos Aires. Co-infection with HIV is more frequent among patients with M. bovis that in all cases of tB. The situation of M. bovis in Argentina is here compared with that in USA and in several European and Latin American countries. Trends followed by tB in cattle, in humans, and the percentages of M. bovis among them, are not always closely related to move towards the common goal of eradicating tB; the employment of appropriate strategies and the strengthening of control measures are critical in both programs.