Palencia keeps bovine TB rates low for fourth year in a row

Province of Palencia, stand out ASAJABovine TB prevalence remained low for the fourth consecutive year, although it increased slightly in the last year analyzed (2022), also at the regional level. Last year, Palencia’s prevalence rate, or the proportion of infected cattle in the total, was 0.69 percent, down from 1 percent, according to figures from the military government of Castile and Leon. This low prevalence threshold. Bovine tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that can cause debilitating, pneumonia and even death in infected animals.

They highlight that after three years of decline (2019, 2020 and 2021), the prevalence in Palencia Asaja, A slight increase in 2022, but clearly below the average in the province of Castile and León (2.07%) and, in any case, with the average in provinces such as Salamanca (4.47%, compared to 2, 53%) is far from it. 2021), which holds nearly half of the community’s cattle herd (45%), and exhibits the opposite dynamics to the rest of the region, so it was declared a particularly endemic area among the most affected cities from Victoria Tigudino area.

Avila is another province that has seen an increase in prevalence, which in this case is also above the 1% threshold (specifically, 1.84%, compared to 1.66% in 2021). The provinces of Burgos, León and Valladolid have declared the elimination of bovine tuberculosis by 2023 after three years in a row where the actual prevalence rate did not exceed 0.1%, and the provinces of Zamora and Soria are also within reach This goal, if this year’s promotional activities have achieved good results.

veterinary unit

Zero prevalence in all veterinary units in Palencia in 2022, with the exception of the following veterinary units: Earl’s Carrion (2.56%), Pisurga beer (1.72%) and I always (2 percent), according to a recent report by the junta’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development.

The autonomous region is also conducting wild animal epidemiological surveys, and the results of the survey show that contact with transmissible species, a large number of wild boars, and the same feeding and drinking places are risk factors for the transmission of bovine tuberculosis. . Again, this work advocates for improved biosecurity on livestock farms to minimize this impact.

As for the province of Palencia, of the 144 wildlife samples analyzed in 2022, none of the postmortem PCR tests performed on these species came back positive. Castile and León as a whole carried out 1,600 tests, of which 49 were positive (just over 3%, although there are also provinces with higher infection rates, such as Ávila and Burgos, where PCR-positive The proportions were 9.5% and 7.1%), respectively).

Interaction risk.

However, the board stands out Asaja, Based on these epidemiological analyses, seven of the 103 veterinary units in the region were considered to be at particular risk for the interaction of wild and domestic species TB.They are the Ávila units of Cebreros and El Barco de Ávila; Salamanca de Béjar (after the previous one, the most conflicted), Ledesma and Vitigudino; Soriana and Palencia of San Pedro Manrique Pisurga beer.

Regarding bovine tuberculosis, ASAJA-Palencia recalls that in 2021 a team of researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and the Collaborative Research Center for Biomaterials CIC biomaGUNE developed a method for diagnosing this livestock disease in blood. The method and technology are advanced in terms of currently applied technology.

While the tuberculin skin test can produce false positives in healthy animals vaccinated or infected with other bacteria, the technique offers higher sensitivity (that is, the likelihood of detecting a diseased individual) and is cheaper, faster. two years.

avoid sacrifice

The researchers ensured that, in addition to improving the diagnosis of potentially diseased animals, the application of this technique would avoid sacrificing the large number of heads of non-diseased animals currently considered positive, says José Izquierdo, PhD, biomedicine. Multidisciplinary Institute of Physics, Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Pharmacy and CIBER Institute of Respiratory Diseases.

The method identifies metabolic patterns in blood samples, similar to routine tests in medicine, such as blood tests for blood sugar or uric acid. “We were able to determine how infection simultaneously alters all metabolites in the host, which allows the diagnosis of infected individuals even before overt symptoms appear,” said Izquierdo.

In addition to calling for the implementation of these diagnostic systems (to avoid sacrificing entire herds under national and regional strategies for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis), ASAJA-Palencia also reminded livestock professionals of the following factors: According to another survey by the Livestock Association, Madrid Comptons analysis of affected farms between 2010 and 2020 may lead to greater risk of disease recurrence: location of farm, larger animal census, long history of positivity, longer duration Outbreaks and increased introduction of animals through herd transfers.

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