Non-aerosol models of bovine tuberculosis are limited in reproducibility and relevance to natural cases seen in farmed animals. Therefore, there is a need for aerosol models of infection in cattle that can reproduce bovine tuberculosis as seen in natural cases of the disease.

This manuscript describes a cattle tuberculosis model based on the inhalation of a precisely defined dose of Mycobacterium bovis in aerosol form, and defines those sites of M. bovis deposition following aerosol inhalation. The dissemination of bacilli and the resultant pathological change following infection is also described. Cattle aged 4–5 months, were infected with approximately 10⁴ colony forming units (CFU), using a Madison chamber that had been modified to deliver aerosols to calves. In Experiment 1, calves were examined for gross pathology at post mortem (PM) examination at 93 and 132 days post-infection (PI), respectively. In Experiment 2, pairs of calves were examined for gross pathology at PM examination at 1 day PI and 7 days PI, respectively. At PM examination, samples were taken for bacteriology. Retrospective counts showed that the calves inhaled between 3×10⁴ and 8×10⁴CFU of M. bovis. In Experiment 1, pathology indicative of tuberculosis and detection of M. bovis by qualitative bacteriology was found throughout the lower respiratory tract (LRT). In Experiment 2, pathology was only observed in a single site of one calf at day 7 PI. Samples positive for M. bovis by bacteriology were predominantly in the LRT. The numbers of M. bovis CFU recovered and the distributions of positive sites were greater at day 7 PI than day 1 PI.

This study describes an aerosol exposure method that can deliver a defined dose of M. bovis almost exclusively to the LRT. The distribution of M. bovis and lesions indicative of tuberculosis suggests this aerosol method replicates the primary mode of tuberculosis transmission in cattle.