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Mycobacterium bovis is a type of bacterium that causes tuberculosis in cattle. It is related to the bacteria which causes tuberculosis in humans and leprosy. M. bovis can also jump the species barrier and cause tuberculosis in humans.
Mycobacterium bovis (the bacterium responsible for bovine TB) in particular has been estimated to be responsible, for the period of the first half of the 20th century, for more losses among farm animals than all other infectious diseases combined. Infection occurs if the bacterium is ingested.
Mycobacterium bovis usually spreads through infected milk, although it too can spread via droplets. Humans are susceptible to this bacterium that causes bovine tuberculosis, but it is a rare cause of disease in humans.
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