Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 March 2023
318. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the minimum and maximum timeframes ]for culturing TB lesions; if it is possible with advancements in technologies to reduce the amount of time it takes to culture lesions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10696/23]
View answerAs the organism that causes TB in cattle is a particularly slow growing organism, the maximum length of time for the culture process, including speciation of bacteria is 10 weeks in conformity with international standards. The minimum length of the time for the culture process for positive samples, including speciation of bacteria is approximately three weeks. The minimum length of time for the culture process for negative samples is seven weeks.
This is after the microscopic examination. The culture interval of M Bovis in the National Reference Laboratory compares very favourably with international practices in both the medical and veterinary fields.
With development of PCR technology, a new diagnostic methodology is being evaluated as an alternative to culture. Work is ongoing in the department laboratories to validate this, initially for lesioned tissues which are inconclusive after microscopic examination. This will have a turnaround time of two to three working weeks. Once this is validated, the aim is make use of this technology more generally so that the total laboratory turnaround time for the vast majority of eligible samples will be less than five working weeks.
My Department makes every effort to ensure that the culturing process in the laboratory is completed as expeditiously as possible in order to ensure that herds are not restricted for longer than necessary.
