Bovine tuberculosis: making a case for effective surveillance

In 2008, a cow with marked gross lesions suspicious for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) was identified by meat inspection at home slaughtering in north-western Germany. Epidemiological investigations led to the identification of another 11 affected farms with a total of 135 animals which reacted positive...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology and infection 2011-01, Vol.139 (1), p.105-112
Main Authors: PROBST, C., FREULING, C., MOSER, I., GEUE, L., KÖHLER, H., CONRATHS, F. J., HOTZEL, H., LIEBLER-TENORIO, E. M., KRAMER, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Cattle
Disease Outbreaks - veterinary
Epidemics
Epidemiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Germany - epidemiology
Herds
Infections
Lesions
Livestock
Lymphatic system
Meats
Microbiology
Minisatellite Repeats
Mycobacterium
Mycobacterium bovis - genetics
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Population Surveillance
Reactors
Surveillance
Tuberculin
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, Bovine - epidemiology
Tuberculosis, Bovine - prevention & control
Ungulates
Veterinary medicine
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Summary:In 2008, a cow with marked gross lesions suspicious for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) was identified by meat inspection at home slaughtering in north-western Germany. Epidemiological investigations led to the identification of another 11 affected farms with a total of 135 animals which reacted positive to the skin test. Eight affected farms had been in trade contact with the putative index farm. While the source for the initial introduction remained unknown, it was shown that all isolates tested shared the same molecular characteristics suggesting a common source of infection. The findings demonstrate that bTB can easily be transmitted via animal trade and may remain undetected for years in herds in the absence of tuberculin testing. Hence, we believe that bTB surveillance should not rely only on meat inspection, but on a combination of both meat inspection and intradermal tuberculin testing.
ISSN:0950-2688
1469-4409
DOI:10.1017/S0950268810000786