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The Defra consultation on bovine TB in non-bovine farmed animals has recently closed. However, the Defra call for views document contains useful information about bovine TB in non-bovines.
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic, infectious and primarily respiratory disease caused by the slow-growing bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). It is mainly a disease of cattle and other bovines, but can affect a wide range of mammal species, including other farmed animals.
The number of premises placed under movement restrictions in the first six months of 2014 in England, due to suspected TB or a confirmed incident of M. bovis infection included 19 camelid, 3 sheep, 12 goat, 13 pig and 3 deer premises.
You must immediately notify APHA if you or your vet suspect that a carcass of a non-bovine animal is infected with TB. Suspicion of TB in a live deer is also notifiable.
If TB is confirmed or strongly suspected, movement restrictions will be imposed and will remain in place until APHA is satisfied, through testing, that all TB infected animals have been identified and removed. Additionally, APHA will TB test any cattle present on the breakdown and neighbouring premises.
Much of the information in the biosecurity section of this website can be made applicable for non-bovines.
Farmed animal species kept as pets most often include goats, camelids, pygmy pigs and lambs. In the event any of these animals become infected with M.bovis, they will be treated as livestock and the particular method of disease management applied will be dependent on the species involved.