Research scientists at the Agri-Food and Biosciences’ Institute (AFBI) are confirming that bovine tuberculosis (bTB) can be fully eradicated in Northern Ireland.
The issue was discussed at a recent Omics’ conference hosted by the organisation in Belfast.
AFBI virologist, Dr. Adrian Allen, made the point that herd testing and the selective removal of reactor bovines alone had previously managed to get bTB disease levels down to extremely low levels.
However, this trend started to reverse a number of years ago, the reason for which has yet to be fully identified.
“The intensification of ruminant livestock production may well be an issue in this regard. But other factors could be coming into play. These are areas of ongoing research,” Dr. Allen said.
Badgers and bTB
Meanwhile, AFBI scientists have undertaken specific research to assess the role of badgers in the transmission of bTB.
A case in point was the ‘test and vaccinate or remove’ (TVR) project.
This was a five-year wildlife intervention study, initiated in 2014. The work was carried out by AFBI in association with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in the Banbridge area of Co. Down.
The approach involved capturing live badgers, testing them for TB, vaccinating those that tested negative to the disease, and removing those that tested positive.
According to AFBI’s Robin Skuce, this work confirmed the significance of bovine-to-bovine transmission where the spread of bTB is concerned.
“We got all the badger bTB isolates from the TVR programme while the all the bovine isolates were made available courtesy of the statutory DAERA testing programme,” Skuce said.
“In the first instance, the work confirmed the very slow mutation rate of TB.
“It also indicated that the most prevalent route of TB transmission was from cattle to cattle.”
However, the TVR work also confirmed that badgers do represent a significant source of TB within the catchment area used for the project.
Additionally, AFBI research has confirmed the presence of TB in deer populations. But here the potential for disease spread to cattle is quite low.
And the same principle holds where the potential cross-border spread of TB is concerned. This has been confirmed courtesy of relevant TB transmission studies carried out by AFBI.
Meanwhile, bTB infection rates continue to increase in Northern Ireland at an alarming rate, with in excess of one-in-ten cattle herds now under some form of disease restriction.
