Should they stay, or should they go? Relative future risk of bovine tuberculosis for interferon-gamma test-positive cattle left on farms

Veterinary Research
Angela Lahuerta-MarinAndrew W Byrne

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is a serious infectious disease that remains an ongoing concern for cattle farming worldwide. Tuberculin skin-tests are often used to identify infected animals (reactors) during test-and-cull programs, however, due to relatively poor sensitivity, additional tests can be implemented in parallel. For example, in Northern Ireland interferon-gamma (IFN-g) testing is used in high-risk herds. However, skin-test negative animals which are positive to the IFN-g test are not required by law to be slaughtered - therefore the final choice for these animals' fate is left with the owner. During this study we investigated whether these animals represented a greater risk of becoming a skin reactor, relative to IFN-g test negative animals from the same herds. Our study population included 1107 IFN-g positive animals from 239 herds. A Cox-proportional hazard model indicated that animals which tested IFN-g positive were 2.31 times (95% CI: 1.92-2.79; P < 0.001) more likely to become a reactor compared with IFN-g negative animals. Animals from dairy herds, and from herds in the south-east, were of higher risk than animals from beef herds and other regions, respectively. Our findings sugges...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 31, 2016·Research in Veterinary Science·Angela Lahuerta-MarinAndrew W Byrne
Nov 24, 2018·The Veterinary Record·Rob Kelly
Sep 2, 2018·The Veterinary Record·Erik HoutsmaSimon J More
Oct 16, 2018·Frontiers in Veterinary Science·Maria Luisa de la CruzJulio Alvarez
Apr 8, 2017·The Veterinary Record·L McCallanA W Byrne

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