By Shelton Daniel – Friday, January 22nd, 2010 (The Daily Observer)

The Veterinary and Livestock Division of the Ministry of Agriculture has announced that it will this month begin testing for bovine tuberculosis in the local cattle population.

This is part of the Ministry’s Veterinary Epidemiology Programme, which is supported by various international organisations, as a means of helping countries such as Antigua & Barbuda to enhance their disease surveillance capacity.

Veterinary Officer in the Ministry, Dr Zakia Goodwin-Diaz, told The Daily OBSERVER, “although there is no reason to suspect that the disease is present on the island, what we want to do is actually determine our status in this regard.”

She said that initially the officers carrying out the testing would depend on the voluntary cooperation of farmers, “because there’s no way for us to compel persons to do the testing at the moment.”

Farmers are being asked to come forward and indicate their interest in participating.

 The only requirements are that they should be registered with the Veterinary and Livestock Division – and have some sort of holding facilities for the cattle; because, as Dr Diaz explained, “for the animals to be tested we have to be able to control them, and that can’t be done if they are roaming.”

 Commencement of the actual testing is on hold for the moment, awaiting the arrival of equipment from overseas. Diaz said they will start “with the government’s livestock herd and then take it from there.”

The bovine strain of tuberculosis also affects birds and poultry, in which case it is known as avian tuberculosis, but this is not considered a likely problem for Antigua & Barbuda at the moment. The bacteria which cause bovine tuberculosis are able to jump species from cattle to infect humans.

However, that risk mostly pertains to persons who operate in close and constant proximity to cattle – such as those who milk and feed cows. The most common mode of transmission is via the animals’ dung. The cattle tend to become infected when they drink from exposed water sources such as ponds and contaminated soil.

 As with all tuberculosis, the bovine strain tends not to present any discernible symptoms for several months – and sometimes even for years. “The animal maybe would lose weight, start to cough and have enlarged ny

mph nodes. It’s not necessarily something that you can look at the animal and say it has tuberculosis – which is why it’s so important to test, because all the while it could be transmitting the disease to other animals,” the veterinarian added.

 She said while bovine TB was seldom immediately fatal to the infected animals, it represented a decrease in production and hence an economic loss for the farmer. She however noted that the disease did not degrade the quality of beef from infected animals, and neither could people become infected by consuming such meat.