Renewed outbreak of bovine tuberculosis

In Saarland, a second outbreak of bovine tuberculosis has been reported

05/21/2014

Once again, an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis was found in Saarland. This affects the second farm in a short time. As the disease can be transmitted as zoonotic disease from animals to humans (and vice versa), there is growing concern about further spread of the pathogens.

„We will take all conceivable precautionary measures so that the tuberculosis pathogen, which is also dangerous for humans, can not spread“, emphasized the Saarland Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection, Reinhold Jost. In the current case is the „plague presumably caused by an animal derived from the farm which was closed for tuberculosis last week“, has been brought in, according to the ministry's message. The laboratory findings of the samples of the now killed animal are now available and further confirmation by laboratory results of the Friedrich-Löffler-Institute in Jena is expected by the end of the week.

Half of the stock is infected?
According to the Saarland Ministry of the Environment, a quick test in the second farm responded „more than half of the cattle positive.“ In total, 35 animals were tested for bovine tuberculosis, of which 19 were positive. „For safety reasons, the entire cattle population is to be killed on both the first and the second farm“, reports the ministry. In addition, consistently all living contact animals would be isolated and examined. As a bacterial infectious disease, bovine tuberculosis is usually transmitted by droplet infection, which can spread the disease quickly within a livestock. However, there are usually months between the time of infection and the appearance of the first symptoms, sometimes even years. The tuberculosis of cattle is triggered by the mycobacterium bovis or the mycobacterium caprae, reports the Saarland Ministry of the Environment.

Creeping course of bovine tuberculosis
The clinical picture of bovine tuberculosis is quite variable, whereby usually inflammation of the lymph nodes and an infestation of various internal organs are first noted. In the case of cattle the disease appears very frequently in the course of the disease in the form of pulmonary tuberculosis. These too „may remain unrecognized for years until clinical symptoms such as coughing, breathing difficulties, emaciation and performance decline finally show up“, so the message of the Saarland Ministry of the Environment. As a rule, bovine tuberculosis is gradual and the animals remain clinically unremarkable. In Germany, the tuberculosis of cattle is according to the „Regulation on notifiable animal diseases“ notifiable.

Germany has been free of bovine tuberculosis since 1997
Since 1997, Germany has been officially recognized as free from bovine tuberculosis thanks to the consistent fight against animal diseases. Tuberculosis surveillance has since been carried out via the post-mortem inspection of slaughtered cattle. According to the Saarland Ministry of Environment, now „State control measures have been taken to prevent further spread of the disease.“ According to the tuberculosis regulation, investigations of all cattle of the herd, killing and harmless disposal of diseased animals, cleaning and disinfection measures as well as extensive epidemiological investigations are planned. With these measures, the authorities hope to get the problem under control and to prevent an infestation of further stocks. (Fp)