bTB situation in Scotland
Scotland was awarded Officially Tuberculosis Free (OTF) status by Europe’s Standing Committee for Food Chain and Animal Health.
On 8 September 2009 Scotland was awarded Officially Tuberculosis Free (OTF) status by Europe’s Standing Committee for Food Chain and Animal Health (SCOFCAH). This means that the percentage of infected bovine herds has not been more than 0.01% for six consecutive years and at least 99.9% of the herds have been declared officially tuberculosis free for 10 years.
In addition to those already in place, new control measures came into place on 28 February 2010 under the Tuberculosis (Scotland) Amendment Order 2009, which amends the Tuberculosis (Scotland) Order 2007.
bTB control measures in Scotland from 28 February 2010
- All cattle of 42 days or over moving to Scotland from one and two yearly tested herds in England and Wales must have had a clear TB test no more than 60 days prior to the movement. They will also need to be post-movement tested between 60 and 120 days after their arrival in a Scottish herd.
- A clear TB test prior to movement to Scotland will be required for cattle from all low incidence areas of England (three and four yearly tested herds) no more than 60 days before movement and no less than 60 days after any previous test with the following exceptions:
- cattle which can be shown to have spent their whole lives in low incidence areas
- cattle being sent to Scotland for slaughter
- calves less than 42 days of age (these will not require testing prior to movement but will need to be tested post movement if they originate from a high incidence area)
- bTB isolation units in Scotland which permit Irish imports to be exempt from post import testing will be phased out by the end of 2010, and importers will be required to meet the cost of post import testing (as for movements from high incidence areas in GB).
- Abattoir surveillance through meat inspection will continue
- Reporting of suspect TB cases will continue as TB is a notifiable disease.
- Source and spread tracings of confirmed breakdowns will continue.
- Gamma interferon testing for all new confirmed breakdowns in Scotland will continue.
- Routine tuberculin testing is not required in an OTF country but the Scottish Government recognises this is advisable during a transitional period. Its proposed strategy is to
- conduct a risk analysis to establish criteria for at-risk herds
- test every herd over the next four years - ‘health check Scotland’
- conduct a four-yearly risk assessment, followed by annual testing if required
- consideration whole herd tests versus selected animal tests
- consider ceasing routine testing in islands with low disease risk
Other information