Tb Testing (Part 2)

Click here to read this PDF article by Stephen Mulholland, Ph.D.; Tb Part 2 (pdf 60 kb)

An extract of this article is below, click on the link above for a pdf of the entire article.

On October 1st, 2012 there was a meeting at the Animal Health Board (AHB) to discuss the current state of tuberculosis risk and testing in camelids. I attended to represent the LANZ.

First, a bit of information about the AHB and their role in TB prevention and control might be helpful. The AHB is not a government department, rather they are an incorporated society that is tasked as a Pest Management Agency under the Biosecurity Act 1993. They get their funding from the dairy/beef/deer industries (40%), local government (10%) and the crown (50%).

Their goal is to make New Zealand TB-free, specifically this means eradicating the bovine-TB strain (Mycobacterium bovis). There are many different species of mycobacterium which can cause TB, but it is Mycobacterium bovis which is the main threat, and it is the sole target of the control and eradication policies.