APHA and TB Errors

[matthew]

Weybridge used to make our tuberculin antigens, but several years ago now, we swopped to Llelystadt product from Holland. When trialed against our Weybridge ppd, the Dutch product gave a slightly different reaction. This meant early IRs would be found at a later stage of disease. Or not at all. So a 'drop in TB cases' during 2006 was not that at all, but a lowering of detection protocols. Nevertheless, vets were all 'retrained'.

http://bovinetb.blogspot.co.uk/2006/08/going-dutch-2mm-difference.html

 

[matthew]

I have had a few in the past that have been sold privately and the purchaser clearly has not done an on movement, they then appear on my list, not a problem, then I get a letter from bcms about 6 weeks later to ask where they have gone. Also a few animals where I have the passport, which would have been applied for on line through bcms, never been moved off as suckler cows, yet don't appear on bcms list. Vet adds them manually and he tells me if it hasn't been applied for or been moved off the system wont allow a manual addition yet he adds them fine, seems odd how this happens? @Doc I may well be wrong but just seem to remember a vet telling me, @bovine im sure will put me right, but the current test was designed and firstly used in Australia in much higher temps? If this is correct any vaccine / drug would surely be trialled under varying conditions?

Used universally all around the world, and intradermal skin test is the OIE primary test, with slaughter of reactors, to clear TB in cattle. In most cases with no wildlife reservoir, the skin test either with a comparison or not, has cleared many countries completely; they now rely on abattoir surveillance. It is only where those external reservoirs remain untouched that problems in sentinel tested cattle (and in our case now, pigs, goats, alpacas, cats and dogs) remain.

BTEC in Australia was an interesting exercise. Pics on this 2008 thread:

http://bovinetb.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/btec-in-australia-pest-destruction-oz.html

I've just realised that the links I've given were +/- 10 years old.

 

[Lovegoodstock]

An ex employee shears alpacas reasonably regularly and I don't know the first thing about them really but gather he does large numbers, drops many big paying clients with "a few" as complete nightmare people, but equally drops as many where there stock is so unfit with breathing problems that it is unfair to even call it a welfare issue, this is beyond joke if it is the case. Remember 15 years back we bought a bull from a 4 yearly testing area that failed in our herd test, only failure,alongside roughly half a dozen IRs, luckily one or two repeats but then went clear in following tests and touch wood have ever after, except about 3/4 years after that test we had a letter informing us of either a repeat IR or a failure , I cant remember, and asking us to contact them to arrange collection. The cow had passed 3/4/5 annual or 6 monthly tests yet they deemed her positive and wanted to take her away. By luck, and it was the case, she had been culled 6 months prior

 

[matthew]

Alpacas seem very susceptible to zoonotic tuberculosis.
Their owners, until the animals roll over, seem oblivious.
Their breed society is in 'ostrich' mode.

http://bovinetb.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/blog-post.html

The inevitable result:

http://bovinetb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/tuberculosis-anniversary.html