TB-infected carcasses may have entered food chain

TB-INFECTED carcasses of Irish cattle that should have been declared unfit for human consumption may have entered the food chain, according to a scathing EU report on Ireland's efforts to eradicate bovine tuberculosis.

Inspectors from the EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) have identified major deficiencies in the slaughter of TB reactor animals, including a risk of carcasses which are fit for human consumption being contaminated with the TB micro-bacterium.

Their report acknowledges that Ireland's TB eradication programme is generally in compliance with EU legislation but says there are shortcomings in a number of areas.

The inspectors were critical of the slaughterhouse they visited for not slaughtering TB reactor animals separately from other animals and for not taking sufficient precautions to avoid risking the contamination of other carcasses.

They noted that when slaughtering cattle, staff and the veterinary inspector did not wear masks and, afterwards, washed only their aprons and boots with a disinfectant that was not effective against the TB micro-bacterium.

Inspectors noted that only a few of the animal transporters used the cleaning facilities of the market they visited, and said the cleanliness of vehicles varied remarkably.

The pens, walls and floor of the market building were not thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after the previous sale.

In one of the six holdings they visited, inspectors noted discrepancies between the number of cattle recorded on the register and the number of passports.

An EU requirement for cattle to remain in a single holding for 30 days prior to export was not adhered to, they reported.

The inspectors also found that a dairy plant used milk from restricted herds without official authorisation, as required by EU regulations

The report says TB outbreaks are caused by movement of cattle into a herd, contiguous infected herds and wildlife, mainly badgers and deer.

Over 16,000 badgers were killed in the first four months of last year as part of a programme to stem the disease.

Hundreds of millions of euro have been spent in recent decades in a largely fruitless effort to eradicate bovine TB.

More than 600 staff work in the area of disease eradication and animal welfare and 50 per cent of local vets' resources are devoted to TB eradication, the report notes.

The report says the prevalence of TB and the rate of new cases remain at a high level despite the measures taken. The annual number of TB reactor animals has never been below 20,000 in decades.

In recent years, a small decrease in prevalence has been recorded but numbers of infected cattle are still higher than in the mid-1970s.

In 2006, €38.3 million was spent on TB eradication, including €16.6 million for compensation, €8.6 million for testing fees and €2.6 million for wildlife measures. Farmers whose animals are slaughtered qualify for compensation of up to €3,500 per head.

Five cases of human TB caused by the TB micro-organism in cattle have been confirmed since 2002. Overall, about 400 to 500 cases of human TB are recorded each year.