How can TB (Tuberculosis) be detected in herds?

The most common used method is intradermal comparative tuberculosis. Avian and bovine tuberculin PPD are injected intradermal in the middle third of the neck. The upper injection site is 10 cm below the crest, the lower site should be about 12 cm from the upper site on a line drawn parallel with the line of the shoulder.

There are three methods used in tuberculosis diagnosis within herds. Two of them are skin tests and the other one is an interferon- gamma test. Skin test can be single or comparative. In single test, PPD bovine tuberculin is administered intradermally to center of neck and it can be read 72 hours later. Local reaction and skin measurement give you the result. In comparative skin test, PPD bovine and PPD avian are administered on the same side of the neck between 8 cm apart and evaluated and compared 72 hours after administration. Gamma globulin is more sensitive and relatively expensive than skin tests and must be conducted by reference labs. You can collect blood samples from your cattle and send them to lab and can get results within one week. Tuberculosis is a zoonosis disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis and threats human health all over the world. Every country has their eradication program. You must consider your program with your national program otherwise it is very hard to tackle with this disease in just a farm level.