Human tuberculosis of bovine origin in Northern Ireland

Abstract

A survey of the extent of bovine type human tuberculosis in Northern Ireland has been made from unselected material during the past 5 years.Only one case of bovine type pulmonary tuberculosis was found out of more than 1000 cases.The proportion of bovine type cases in the non-respiratory group was 4·3%; 3·3% of meningitis cases were of bovine origin.A marked decline in the extent of bovine type infection is shown to have occurred during the past 10 years. This is believed to be due to a great increase in the pasteurization of milk during this period. Milk was a particularly valuable food during the war, and pasteurization facilitated its distribution.

A history of bovine tuberculosis eradication policy in Northern Ireland

“…Clinically affected animals were recognized as 'poor doers' that lost weight, became progressively thinner, and eventually died. Progress was made in removing such animals from the national herd, and in Reilly's opinion [9] there had been a marked decline in the number of cases of human tuberculosis of bovine origin in NI by the 1940s for three main reasons: milk pasteurization; education of the public about the risks from drinking unpasteurized milk; and the detection of bTB through the tuberculin testing of cattle.…”

Farmer and veterinarian attitudes towards the risk of zoonotic Mycobacterium bovis infection in Northern Ireland

“…Indeed, bTB control programmes in various parts of the world were first instituted to reduce this risk to humans. Historically, M bovis infection fairly commonly affected humans in NI, especially through ingestion of unpasteurised milk, but by 1950 there had been a marked decline due to milk pasteurisation and increased efforts to remove tuberculous cattle from farms 16 . If success is measured in absence of clinical disease in humans, it appears to have been successful.…”