Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Sarah Keir — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 19:24:17 GMT

As far as I know the only legal point is to report it. I don't think it would be a good idea to treat such cases but their is no legal obligation not to. As far as I know. Researched about 5 years ago when had the last case, which turned out to be pretty sure was M.avium but without culture then never 100% sure and cultures are often negative. And the APHA lost the samples I sent them!

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Michael Woodhouse — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 22:05:53 GMT

I thought it was illegal to treat an animal with M bovis? Is that just cattle?

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Sarah Keir — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 18:22:59 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

we generally euthanase pet animals if they have tuberculosis. So why such objection to killing tubercular badgers?

[/quote]

Only if bovine tuberculosis i.e. Mycobacterium bovis. And even then if confirmed case, which is difficult without postmortem samples. And even then there is no legal requirement to euthanase, only to report. So if you have a suspect case, which negative on culture from e.g. BAL samples, which they often are and the owner declines/refuses euthanasia and other samples can't be collected then what?

For interest I have only treated cases were pretty sure where M avium but never a 100% guarantee.

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 15:41:40 GMT

Wot Iain said.

To which I would add: we generally euthanase pet animals if they have tuberculosis. So why such objection to killing tubercular badgers?

And as a footnote: if you read the letters in this week's Veterinary Record you will see that the foxhound story is not, after all, quite as it was originally presented....

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Iain Richards — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 12:03:13 GMT

I've mailed him already. To my surprise he already understood these concepts

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 09:00:36 GMT

Thank you Iain for explaining that to me. I've never had a decent understanding of TB (as is painfully obvious!)

Would you mind if I shared your post with the ST journalist, without naming you?

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Iain Richards — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 08:56:19 GMT

Arlo - many species infected, that's what TB does. Most are spill-over hosts, and the disease doesn't circulate in the population. That's most wildlife. The individual animal is still potentially infectious, but, in the epidemiology, relatively unimportant. The exceptions are badgers who are a reservoir host, thus the disease is maintained in the population without further introduction from outside the population. Also fallow deer, most because they live in large herds. As most are in the high risk area, they may not be a true reservoir, just reinfecting. The hounds is interesting, they possibly were a reservoir, because of relative confinement (like victorian slums).

It doesn't call in to question badger culling, as the cull is against the reservoir, sort of. It's alos not new stuff, just picked up on by the media!

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 08:32:42 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]Not sure why it calls badger culling into question, but heigh-ho.[/quote]

Evelyn Barbour-Hill, presumably, if there are many other vectors for the disease, then singling out badgers may not be effective?

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Liz Barton — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 22:08:29 GMT

[quote user="Neil Wheadon"] The recent hunting dog story has brought the incidence in dogs to prominence where the disease has been reported in dogs before. [/quote]

https://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/180/24/583

As with all these 'breaking stories' they've been around for years, but when media interest is spiked it becomes NEWS!

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 21:26:26 GMT

Not sure why it calls badger culling into question, but heigh-ho.

RE: Can you help the Sunday Times re: Bovine TB in other species

Neil Wheadon — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 21:24:27 GMT

TB has been seen in practically every mammal on the British Mainland from deer to rats. Oxford University have statistics. The recent hunting dog story has brought the incidence in dogs to prominence where the disease has been reported in dogs before. There was a case I knew about maybe 8 years ago where a 13 year old dog with ascites and liver failure was found to be a case of bovine TB. It was only found because the owner insisted and was prepared to find the cause, leaving myself to muse how many unrecognised cases are out there?

Neil