REVIEW PAPER
Historical aspects of bovine tuberculosis in Britain
 
 
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Division of Physiology, Faculty of Health, Birmingham City University, UK
 
 
Corresponding author
Ross Cooper   

Division of Physiology, Faculty of Health, Birmingham City University, 704 Baker Building, Franchise Street, Perry Barr, Birmingham B42 2SU, UK.
 
 
J Pre Clin Clin Res. 2008;2(1):6-8
 
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is spreading from infected badgers to cattle. The objective of the review was to consolidate the principal and important articles written on bovine TB in Britain over the last six decades. The criteria used in the current review for selecting articles were both theoretically and practically motivated and adopted from proposed criteria in The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for the 19th century, 20th century, and 21st century. Data was classifi ed according to a normal distribution with the 20th century expressing the greater readership. The results show that cattle infected with Mycobacterium bovis characteristically exhibit pulmonary infection and shed the bacterium in respiratory secretions. Badger to cattle transmission may be via inhalation of bacilli from contaminated grass infected with badger excretions. Therefore, questions concerning the necessity of badger culling should be addressed.
 
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