ProMED-mail

Most Recent Alert

View printable version   Share this post:

Published Date: 2013-05-19 17:10:54
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Bovine tuberculosis - Germany: (NI) bovine, human susp, RFI
Archive Number: 20130519.1723864

BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS - GERMANY: (LOWER SAXONY), BOVINE, HUMAN SUSPECTED, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
***********************************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

In this report
-----------
[1] Dairy cattle holding, Lower Saxony
[2] Family member, Tuberculosis suspected

******
[1] Dairy cattle holding, Lower Saxony
Date: Tue, 14 May 2013
Source: Agrarheute [German, transl Sabine Zentis, edited]
http://www.agrarheute.com/rindertuberkulose-rotenburg


Bovine TB in Lower Saxony
-------------------------
According to the district authorities (Rotenburg/Wuemme-Lower Saxony) a cow slaughtered earlier was confirmed with Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) at slaughterhouse veterinary inspection. The farm of origin was put under restrictions immediately. Further testing revealed that a large part of the herd was infected with bTB.

In a statement the authorities said "Experience from the last bTB outbreak shows that because of the high percentage of reactors a complete depopulation of the farm is inevitable"

According to the local paper "Kreiszeitung" more than 100 animals had been culled on Mon [13 May 2013].

The source of infection is not known yet. "The high number of reactors is an indication that the introduction must have happened a long time ago, at least 2-3 years, most likely from a bought-in animal and not from infected wildlife (red deer)", explained Dr. Wiedner, the official vet.

The authorities are now testing animals on holdings which have bought cattle from the affected herd as well as animals on farms in the vicinity.

As the milk from the infected farm has been collected by a dairy and pasteurized, there is no danger for the public.

--
Communicated by:
Sabine Zentis
Castleview English Longhorns
Gut Laach
D-52385 Nideggen
<cvlonghorns@aol.com>

[In the above media report, the name of the municipality wherein the infected farm is located, is not given. However, the location -- Hemslingen, a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemslingen) - is indicated in other media sources of the same date, such as http://tinyurl.com/am6qosb. A report on a case of tuberculosis in a human patient, in Hemslingen, is addressed in item 2. - Mod.AS].

******
[2] Family member, Tuberculosis suspected
Date: Wed, 15 May 2013
Source: Kreiszeitung.de [[German, transl Sabine Zentis, edited]
http://www.kreiszeitung.de/lokales/rotenburg/visselhoevede/tuberkulose-hemslingen-familienmitglied-erkrankt-2905675.html


Member of family infected
-------------------------
The source of a massive outbreak of bovine TB on a cattle farm in Hemslingen (Lower Saxony) has not been established yet. According to the official district veterinarian Dr. Wiedner, cattle-to-cattle transmission is likely but other routes have not yet been ruled out.

A couple of months ago, a member of the farmers family was confirmed to be infected with tuberculosis.

Whether there is a connection with the disease of cattle on the holding was not disclosed by the farmers veterinarian for reasons of confidentially.

According to the veterinarian Wilken Depke, tuberculosis is a common zoonosis and, in German vets working with zoo animals, may be a cause of death. "Infection is through droplets, i.e. from a spitting llama so infection between humans and animals is a possibility".

The farming family's lawyer Christian Teppe commented on the rumours circulating: "At this point in time it is not known whether there is a connection between the infection of the family member and the cattle, and if there is, who has infected whom".

The lawyer has no explanation for the human infection as the person has not travelled abroad.

Typing of the bacteria could give some answers. The official county lab is investigating, hoping to reveal the origin of infection.

Whether the remaining 340 heads of cattle on the farm which so far tested negative for bTB have to be slaughtered is still not clear.

So far, the authorities have only published a press release and the farmer has not been informed yet.

Teppe insists on a swift decision. "I am calling on the authorities either to depopulate the whole herd or lift restrictions immediately. The current situation, where the farmer has to milk the cattle and has to dispose the milk is not acceptable".

Though compensation is paid for slaughtered cattle, there is no compensation for loss of production which will inevitably lead to the loss of economic viability.

Teppe further stated: "In that case the prevention of animal diseases is in contrast to animal welfare aspects, especially the culling of healthy animals" and he is asking the authorities for a swift decision.

--
Communicated by:
Sabine Zentis
Castleview English Longhorns
Gut Laach
D-52385 Nideggen
cvlonghorns@aol.com

[According to the EU's Animal Disease Notification System (ADNS) last available issue (5 May 2013), 24 outbreaks of bTB have been reported from Germany since 1 Jan 2013. While still maintaining its official bTB-free status, the situation leaves room for improvement.

A bTB outbreak in another German cattle holding in lower Saxony, in 2008, similarly identified by meat inspection during the slaughter of a seemingly healthy bovine, led scientists from Germany's Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut to conclude:

"The findings demonstrate that bTB can easily be transmitted via animal trade and may remain undetected for years in herds in the absence of tuberculin testing. Hence, we
believe that bTB surveillance should not rely only on meat inspection, but on a combination of both meat inspection and intradermal tuberculin testing". (see ref 1). The number of bTB outbreaks in France (46 since 1 Jan 2013) adds France to the same category.

While final results of the current laboratory investigations, in particular addressing the source of infection and possible connection with the described human case, are anticipated with interest, the conclusions of the 2011 paper deserve to be revisited.

Ref 1.
Probst C. Freuling C. Moser I., et al (2011). Bovine tuberculosis: making a case for effective surveillance. Epidemiology and Infection 139 (10) pp 105-112.

- Mod.AS

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/1zJl.]

See Also