Mortality rate and movements of brushtail possums with clinical tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) infection

AIM: To describe the mortality rate and movements of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) with clinical tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) from a site in native podocarp/hardwood forest, in the Orongorongo Valley, Wellington. METHODS: Possums with clinical tuberculosis (Tb) were identified through routine trapping on live capture grids and were fitted with radio-collars, and located at approximately monthly intervals for 2.5 years. The survival times of radio-collared tuberculous and non-diseased possums were used to estimate the instantaneous additional mortality rate due to clinical Tb. The spatial behaviour of clinically tuberculous possums was compared with that of non-diseased possums, using both den and trap locations. The frequency of long-distance movements of both tuberculous and non-diseased possums was also determined. A possum was defined as having undertaken along-distance movement when it moved at least 200 m from the centre of its activity range and then returned to its established activity range or died. RESULTS: The mean survival time of clinically tuberculous possums was 4.7 (SE 0.79) months. The instantaneous additional mortality rate due to clinical Tb was estimated to be between 1.08 year-1 and 2.38 year-1, with the lower figure including an unknown portion of the incubation period in the estimate. Estimates of denning and activity ranges of tuberculous possums were approximately 22-30% larger, on average, than the ranges of non-diseased possums, but the differences were not significant. Both tuberculous and non-diseased possums undertook long-distance movements up to 700 m from the centre of their activity range. However, the majority of tuberculous possums died within or near their established activity range. CONCLUSIONS: This study estimated the mortality rate during the clinical stages of Tb and, as such, did not represent a true estimate of the disease-induced mortality rate (alpha) used in most epidemiological models of possums and Tb. However, the lower estimate of the additional mortality rate due to clinical disease could be considered an approximation to alpha. The movement patterns of clinically tuberculous possums were, overall, not substantially different from non-diseased possums. The occurrence of long-distance movements by tuberculous possums sometimes coincided with the advanced stage of clinical disease. However, the majority of tuberculous possums died within their established activity area. Long-distance movements by resident possums during the terminal stages of disease represent a direct risk for transmission of Tb to livestock on farms within approximately 1 km of infected possum populations.