Australian Bovine Tuberculosis Surveillance Project

Background

The Australian Bovine Tuberculosis Surveillance Project 2007-10 (ABTBSP), managed by Animal Health Australia (AHA), provides the framework for a nationally integrated approach to surveillance for bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB). The ABTBSP follows the completion of the Tuberculosis Freedom Assurance Program (TFAP) Part 1 (1998-2002) and Part 2 (2003-2006) . Australia's national eradication campaign (Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign or BTEC) ran for 27 years from 1970 to 1997, achieving freedom from bovine TB by OIE standards on 31 December 1997.

TFAP Part 1 provided the framework to ensure that any residual bovine TB in Australian cattle following BTEC was promptly detected and effectively eliminated.  Surveillance was achieved via the National Granuloma Submission Program (described below), involving the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) and Australian state and Northern Territory Governments working together to maximise the number of granulomatous lesions detected in cattle at slaughter and examined in a laboratory. In addition, the program aimed to lessen the impact of bovine TB on any owners of infected cattle and the broader community and encourage the removal of cattle, considered a high risk of TB infection, from the Australian cattle herd.

TFAP Part 1 was considered highly successful and was essentially continued under the title of TFAP Part 2.  Accordingly, TFAP Part 2 provided the framework for continued surveillance and a response to any bovine TB cases. Significant achievements in TFAP Part 2 included the establishment of an agreement with the Western Australian Government for the ongoing provision of a Australian Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis (further information available at http://www.scahls.org.au), and the establishment of an agreement between stakeholders on Standard Definitions and Rules to be applied when dealing with the eradication of bovine TB (The Bovine Tuberculosis Case Response Manual - Managing an Incident of Bovine Tuberculosis, 2007).

Cases of bovine TB were last detected in cattle in December 2000 and in buffalo in January 2002, during TFAP Part 1. No cases of bovine TB were detected in Australian livestock during TFAP Part 2. Australia continues to conduct surveillance for bovine TB to maintain international recognition of freedom. 

National Granuloma Submission Program

The purpose of the ABTBSP is to collect, analyse and report data from surveillance activities undertaken by the Australian Government and state and territory animal health agencies. Meat inspection for granulomas (known as the National Granuloma Submission Program or NGSP) has been the primary surveillance activity for bovine TB since 1992 (conducted by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service or AQIS) and this activity is now reported through the ABTBSP.  This activity involved the collection and submission of granulomas, found in the head and thorax of slaughtered cattle, for laboratory examination.

From 1992 until the end of 2004 a total of 45 180 granulomas from cattle and 42 granulomas from deer, camels and buffalo were submitted to laboratories from approximately 200 domestic and export abattoirs across Australia (Source: TFAP 2 Final Report, Animal Health Australia, 2007). Bovine TB was detected in 71 granulomas from cattle and in 5 from buffalo; the last detection reported in 2002. Submission rates varied across this period resulting in an overall rate of more than 1 granuloma submitted per 2000 head of cattle slaughtered. In 2005 and 2006, granuloma submission rates from cattle exceeded 1 per 4400 head.

From 1 January 2007, all bovines slaughtered at both export and domestic abattoirs in Australia are inspected in accordance with the Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production and Transportation of Meat and Meat product for Human Consumption. The policy guiding the selection and rate of submission of granulomas for laboratory examination has progressed over the last 40 years in response to the decreasing prevalence and distribution of bovine TB in the national cattle herd.  Currently, any granuloma of uncertain aetiology (particularly if in a lymph node in the head or lungs of cattle with 2 or more permanent teeth), or suspected of being due to bovine TB (at the discretion of the inspector), should be submitted for laboratory examination.

The National Animal Health Information System database shows the number of granulomas submitted for laboratory examination by period (from export and domestic abattoirs). Very few granulomas are submitted from domestic abattoirs due to very low numbers of eligible (by age) animals being slaughtered. Summary surveillance data updates are provided in Animal Health Surveillance Quarterly Report published by Animal Health Australia and on the National Animal Health Information System database.

All Australian laboratories supporting the NGSP are accredited for granuloma testing (including bacterial culture for Mycobacterium bovis) by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA). To be accredited, these laboratories must pass an external quality assurance program, run by the Australian Reference Laboratory for bovine TB annually. Surveillance for bovine TB also includes the investigation of granulomatous lesions detected during the slaughter of, deer, buffalo and camels for the domestic market.

Contingency planning

In the unlikely event of a bovine TB case occurring, eradication activities will be guided by the Bovine Tuberculosis Case Response Manual - Managing an Incident of Bovine Tuberculosis (AHA Australia, 2007) which provides for an ‘approved property or herd' eradication program agreed by the owner, the relevant jurisdictional government, and endorsed by cattle industry representatives. The national Animal Health Committee is managing the future technical and policy aspects of bovine TB eradication. Reimbursement for livestock destroyed for disease control will be provided by the cattle industry, through the Cattle Disease Contingency Fund.  Animal Health Australia is managing the call on funds as the need arises.

• Bovine Tuberculosis Case Response Manual (1,064 KB)

A bovine TB reference laboratory is retained for future surveillance quality assurance and epidemiological investigations. Future reference laboratory arrangements are managed under the National Animal Health Laboratory Strategy.

Page Updated: 12 November 2009