US: TB vaccination to reduce spread in dairy herds by 89%

Published 2024년 4월 5일

Tridge summary

A collaborative study by the University of Cambridge and Penn State University has made a significant breakthrough in the fight against bovine tuberculosis (TB), demonstrating that vaccinating cattle with the BCG vaccine can reduce the transmission of the disease by almost 90%. Conducted in Ethiopia, the research shows that vaccination not only protects the vaccinated cattle but also indirectly shields unvaccinated ones by curtailing the spread of TB. This discovery presents a promising alternative to the traditional, more costly methods of disease control, which involve extensive testing and culling of infected animals. The findings advocate for the adoption of cattle vaccination programs as an effective strategy to improve herd health and mitigate disease outbreaks, offering substantial benefits for both animal and human health in regions struggling with bovine TB.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The study, led by the University of Cambridge and Penn State University, improves prospects for the elimination and control of bovine tuberculosis – a disease that results in large economic costs and health impacts globally. This is the first study to show that BCG-vaccinated cattle infected with TB are substantially less infectious to other cattle. This remarkable indirect effect of the vaccine beyond its direct protective effect has not been measured before. The spillover of infection from livestock has been estimated to account for about 10% of human tuberculosis cases. While such zoonotic TB (zTB) infections are most commonly associated with gastro-intestinal infections related to drinking contaminated milk, zTB can also cause chronic lung infections in humans. Lung disease caused by zTB can be indistinguishable from regular tuberculosis, but is more difficult to treat due to the natural antibiotic resistance in the cattle bacteria. TB remains endemic in many countries around ...

Source: UKFarmersguide