Tuberculosis in goats on a farm in Ireland: epidemiological investigation and control

This paper describes an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis in a dairy goat herd on a farm in Ireland, where 66.3 per cent of the herd tested positive to the single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT) at initial detection. An epidemiological investigation was conducted to determine the origin of the outbreak, considering issues such as animal movements and herd management practices. Infection was introduced with a consignment of goats, as determined by the variable number tandem repeat profile. Infection was eradicated using a test and cull programme involving the SICTT, the interferon-γ assay and a multiplex immunoassay (Enferplex TB).