Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 February 2021
1087. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has undertaken research into the root causes of TB in livestock; if so, if a copy of the most up-to-date research will be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10137/21]
View answerBovine Tuberculosis (bTB) is a highly infectious disease of cattle caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). As part of the national TB Eradication Programme, there are numerous studies and research projects into the causes of TB in livestock. This work is undertaken to provide scientific information to inform policy decision-making.
All TB scientific research assignments undertaken as part of the TB Eradication Programme are carefully defined and driven by a specific TB-related research question, and the results of each project are published in international peer-reviewed journals.
My Department commissions various bodies to carry out TB research projects. The main body that is commissioned by my Department is University College Dublin's Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (UCD CVERA) which conducts research for the control and eradication of regulatory animal diseases, which includes the national TB Eradication Programme. On a biennial basis, CVERA publish a report detailing recently published scientific papers - see the following link.
Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis | Reports (ucd.ie)
Please see also here a link to the TB Forum Consultation Papers. Page 18 provides a list of references for peer reviewed scientific papers on bovine TB:
https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/d6572-tb-forum/
In addition please see below references for a selection of TB research recently published, which was supported by my Department:
Byrne, A.W., et al. 2020. Post-mortem surveillance of bovine tuberculosis in Ireland: Herd-level variation in the probability of herds disclosed with lesions at routine slaughter to have skin test reactors at follow-up test. Veterinary Research Communications https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-020-09777-w
Byrne, A.W., et al., 2020, Bovine Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) Outbreak Duration in Cattle Herds in Ireland: A Retrospective Observational Study. Pathogens, 2020, 9, 815; doi:10.3390/pathogens9100815
Tratalos, J.A., et al., 2020. Spatial and network characteristics of Irish cattle movements. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 183, 105095, doi 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105095
Martin, S.W., et al., 2020. Is moving from targeted culling to BCG-vaccination of badgers (Meles meles) associated with an unacceptable increased incidence of cattle herd tuberculosis in the Republic of Ireland? A practical non-inferiority wildlife intervention study in the Republic of Ireland (2011-2017). Preventive Veterinary Medicine 179
Duignan et al., 2019. Tuberculin PPD Potency Assays in Naturally Infected Tuberculous Cattle as a Quality Control Measure in the Irish Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Programme. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 6(328) doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00328
Clegg, T.A., et al., 2019. Characteristics of Mycobacterium bovis infected herds tested with the interferon-gamma assay. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 168, 52-59.
More, S.J., 2019. Can bovine TB be eradicated from the Republic of Ireland? Could this be achieved by 2030?. Irish Veterinary Journal 72(1), p.3.
