Experimental infection of badgers (Meles meles) with Mycobacterium bovis

The intradermal inoculation of four badgers with small numbers of Mycobacterium bovis resulted in localized lesions with ulceration which slowly healed by 5 months after inoculation. Lesions of generalized tuberculosis were seen in three badgers, one of which died at 17 months post-inoculation and in the remaining two killed 22 months post-inoculation. In the fourth badger lesions were confined to the draining lymph node of the inoculation site but M. bovis was isolated from the liver. Monthly clinical sampling of faeces, urine, tracheal aspirate and inoculation site exudates detected only the excretion of M. bovis from the inoculation site of one badger. There were marked seasonal variations in body weight but significant weight loss was observed during the second year in all four badgers, particularly prior to death. Four badgers inoculated intratracheally with a similar inoculum of M. bovis and another two control badgers showed no evidence of infection with M. bovis.