Bovine tuberculosis has been demonstrated in Saarland

Tuberculosis in cattle in the Saarland

05/14/2014

In the Saarland, the infectious disease tuberculosis was found in a slaughtered cattle. The Ministry of Environment and Consumer Protection said that the court was immediately closed. The risk of people becoming infected with tuberculosis via contaminated foods is considered very low.

Bovine tuberculosis in the Saarland
In Saarland, the infectious disease tuberculosis has been found in the cattle herd of a farm. The notifiable animal disease was discovered during the post mortem inspection of a slaughtered bovine; the lung had tuberculosis-typical changes. The Saarland Ministry of Environment and Consumer Protection announced that the farm was immediately closed and that no animals should leave the farm. Three of the 79 cattle have already been slaughtered and taken to Jena for detailed examination in the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Consumer Protection in Saarbrücken.

It may be necessary to kill whole herds
If the results are positive, the entire herd must be killed. More than half of the dams and their six-week-old calves had been positive in rapid tests. The peasant family will now be examined whether they have infected the animals. Even if the ministry rules out contamination of milk and cheese by milk deliveries to dairies, all conceivable precautions would nevertheless be taken, as Minister for Consumer Protection Reinhold Jost (SPD) announced. So far, it is still completely unclear how the disease could reach the Saarland. Although Germany has been officially free of bovine tuberculosis since 1996, in 2013 some cases occurred in Bavaria.

Low risk for consumers
Experts classify the risk that consumers have infected with contaminated food with tuberculosis, as very low. However, the bovine TBC agent is transmissible to humans. Infection is usually by droplet infection or contaminated drinking water and food. Especially people with a weakened immune system such as the elderly and the chronically ill are vulnerable. The disease usually occurs as an infection of the lungs. Symptoms of tuberculosis include persistent cough, chronic fatigue, weight loss, nocturnal sweat fever, and chest pain. (Sb)

Picture: Aka