What is Bovine Tuberculosis?
Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria transmitted from person to person through the air. Tuberculosis usually affects the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, kidneys, or spine. People with tuberculosis can die if left untreated.
Symptoms of Bovine Tuberculosis
Common symptoms of TB include feeling unwell or weak, weight loss, fever, and night sweats. Symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis include coughing, chest pain, and hemoptysis. The symptoms of TB in different parts of the body depend on which part is affected.
There may be bacteria that cause TB in your body. It seems like pneumoconiosis, but your immune system can usually prevent the disease. For this reason, doctors distinguish between:
Latent tuberculosis– You are infected with Latent tuberculosis, but the bacteria in your body are inactive and cause no symptoms. Although Latent TB, also known as inactive TB infection, is not contagious. Latent TB can develop into active TB, so treatment is important.
Active tuberculosis– This disease, also called tuberculosis, can make you sick and, in most cases, spread to others. This can happen weeks or years after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Signs and symptoms of active TB include:
- Cough for more than 3 weeks
- Coughing up blood or mucus
- Having chest pain fill more pain when breathing or coughing
- Unintentional weight loss
- Fatigue ( Click Here to read more about fatigue)
- Fever
- Cold sweat
- Chills
- Loss of appetite
Tuberculosis also affects various body parts, including the kidneys, spine, and brain. When TB develops outside the lungs, signs and symptoms differ depending on the organ affected. For example, when tuberculosis affects the spine, it can cause back pain, or also, tuberculosis affects the kidney. It can cause blood in the urine.
Tuberculosis spreading
Mycobacterium tuberculosis spreads through the air when a person with tuberculosis of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. Depending on the environment, these bacteria can remain in the air for several hours. Anyone who breathes in the air containing these tuberculosis germs can become infected. This is called latent TB infection.
What is the difference between latent TB infection and TB disease?
People with latent TB do not get sick because TB bacteria are present in the body, but TB bacteria are inactive. These people do not have TB symptoms and cannot transmit germs to others. However, in the future, they can cause tuberculosis. They are often prescribed treatment to prevent the development of tuberculosis.
People who suffer from this disease become infected with active tuberculosis bacteria, which multiply and destroy body tissues. They usually show symptoms of this disease. People with tuberculosis of the lungs or throat can transmit germs to others. They prescribed drugs to treat this disease.
Causes of Bovine Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection. This disease that affects the lungs (pulmonary tuberculosis) is the most contagious type but usually only spreads after prolonged exposure to people with the disease.
Most healthy people have no symptoms because the body’s natural defenses (the immune system) against infection and disease kill bacteria.
Sometimes the immune system cannot kill bacteria but prevents them from spreading throughout the body.
There are no symptoms, but bacteria remain in the body. This is called latent tuberculosis. People with latent TB are not contagious to those around them.
When the immune system week or fails to kill contain the TB infection, it can easily spread to the whole lungs or other parts of the body, and the symptoms appear within weeks or months. This is called active tuberculosis.
Latent TB can develop into active TB, especially if the immune system is weakened.
Diagnosis
Two tests can be used to check for TB infection. Skin test or blood test for tuberculosis. The Mantoux tuberculin skin test injects a small amount of body fluid (called tuberculin) into the skin under the arm. Anyone who has had a tuberculin skin test should return within 48-72 hours and ask a qualified healthcare professional to monitor the hand response. A blood test for this disease determines how a person’s immune system reacts to the bacteria that cause this dangerous disease.
Treatment of Bovine Tuberculosis
If you are suffering from a latent TB infection but not TB disease, immediate contact with your doctor may ask you to take medications that kill TB bacteria and prevent early TB from developing. The decision to treat latent infection is based on the likelihood of developing tuberculosis. Some people who once become infected with this disease are more likely to develop this disease than others. This includes people living with HIV, people with recent TB survivors, and people with certain medical conditions.
How is tuberculosis treated?
Most TB patients do not need hospital treatment; they can be treated at home. Doctors usually treat TB with antibiotics taken by mouth (oral). However, it takes time to kill all TB bacteria, so most people need to take the drug for 6-9 months. Sometimes doctors use drugs that kill bacteria to treat active TB.
It’s important to take antibiotics for as long as your doctor tells you, even if your symptoms improve after a few weeks. This is the best way to kill harmful bacteria. If you stop treatment or skip it too early, the remaining bacteria can become resistant to the antibiotic. Drug resistance can lead to a more dangerous disease that is difficult to treat.
Doctors can also treat people with latent infections and no symptoms. This is called preventive therapy. It kills bacteria so they do not cause health problems in the future. The most common prevention is taking the antibiotic isoniazid daily for 6-9 months. Sometimes doctors prescribe isoniazid to people who are at risk of getting TB again.
Risk factors
Anyone can get TB, but certain factors can increase your risk, for example:
Weakened immune system
A healthy immune system helps to fight TB bacteria successfully. However, several conditions and medications can weaken the immune system, including:
- HIV AIDS
- Diabetes
- Severe kidney disease
- Some types of cancer
- Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy
- Drugs that prevent organ transplant rejection
- Some drugs treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and psoriasis.
- Malnutrition or underweight
- Very young or old
Other factors
- Use of psychoactive substances– Intravenous medication or excessive alcohol consumption weakens the immune system and makes you more susceptible to TB.
- Tobacco use– Smoking generates and increases the risk of this disease and causes death.
- Work in the healthcare industry– Regular contact with sick people increases your chances of contracting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Wearing a mask and frequent hand washing can significantly reduce the risk.
- You live or work in a childcare facility– Those who live or work in prisons, homeless shelters, mental hospitals, or nursing homes have a higher risk of contracting This disease due to overcrowding and poor ventilation.
- You live with a patient with tuberculosis– Close contact with someone with TB increases the risk.
Complications of Bovine Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis can be fatal if left untreated. Active diseases usually affect the lungs if untreated, but other body parts can also be affected.
Complications of tuberculosis include:
- Back pain. Back pain and stiffness are general and very common causes of TB.
- Joint damage. Arthritis caused by tuberculosis (tuberculous arthritis) usually affects the hips and knees.
- Swelling of the membrane covering the brain (meningitis). This can cause persistent or recurrent headaches that last for several weeks and possible mental changes.
- Liver or kidney problems. Our liver and kidneys help to filter waste and impurities from the bloodstream. Tuberculosis in these organs doesn’t work or function properly.
- Heart disorders. In rare cases, TB can infect the tissues surrounding the heart, causing inflammation and fluid buildup, affecting the heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently. This condition is known as cardiac tapenades, and it is fatal.
Prevention
If you test positive for latent TB infection, your doctor may advise you to take medications to reduce your risk of developing active TB. Only active tuberculosis is contagious.
Protect your family and friends
If you have active TB, you usually need to be treated with anti-TB drugs for several weeks until you stop contracting the infection. Follow these tips to keep your friends and family safe from illness.
- Stay home. During the first few weeks of treatment, do not go to work, or school, or sleep in a room with other people.
- Ventilate the room. Mycobacterium tuberculosis spreads more easily in small, confined spaces without air movement. If it’s not too cold outside, open a window and blow the indoor air out with a fan.
- Keep your mouth shut. Cover your mouth with a tissue when you laugh, sneeze, or cough. Place the contaminated cloth in a bag and close it before disposal.
- Put on a face mask. Wearing a face mask when you are with others for the first 3 weeks of treatment can help reduce your risk of transmission.
When to see a doctor
See your doctor if you have a fever, unexplained weight loss, damp sweat, or a persistent cough. This is often a sign of tuberculosis, but other illnesses can also cause it. Also, talk to your doctor if you have contracted tuberculosis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends testing people at high risk of TB for latent TB infection. These guidelines include the following:
- I have HIV / AIDS
- Intravenous drug use
- You are in contact with infected people
- They come from countries where tuberculosis is common, such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
- You live or work in an area where tuberculosis is common, such as a prison or nursing home.
- Work in the medical field and treat people at high risk of tuberculosis.
- Are children at risk of tuberculosis in contact with adults?
Countries with high TB rates
Areas with a high incidence of tuberculosis include:
- Africa – especially Sub-Saharan Africa (all Sub-Saharan Africa) and West Africa.
- South Asia – including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Bangladesh
- Russia
- China
- South America
- Western Pacific Region (Western Pacific) – including Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines
