December 4, 2013

 

Bovine Tuberculosis may have entered UK food chain

 

 

Raw meat from 28,000 animals is sold annually into the UK food chain as well as milk from the thousands of cattle which may be infected with Tuberculosis (TB), as revealed by the Sunday Times over the weekend.

 

In the past infection to humans via milk was common, and although this milk would have been pasteurised so called "raw" milk is becoming more popular.

 

The farmer involved was fined nearly £52,000 (US$85,000) last week for selling milk from cattle which had tested positive for TB.

 

It comes as a cull of badgers is due to go ahead in Gloucestershire and Somerset this summer to stop the spread of bovine TB (bTB).

 

Farmers say the cull is necessary as badgers can spread bTB but protesters say the Government should be concentrating on vaccination and cracking down on the disease in the food chain.

 

Around 38,000 cows are destroyed every year because they have bTB. Some will have been milked before being killed. Cattle with a low level of infection are sold into the food chain because the dangerous parts of meat can be easily removed.

 

Adam Quinney, vice President of the National Farmers Union, pointed out that the milk would have been pasteurised so posed no risk to the public.

 

He also said the meat was no risk because the infected parts of the animal, usually the lungs, are removed. Further tests at the abattoir can identify any other parts that are infected before they get into the food chain. Lastly most meat is likely to be cooked. He said it was very unlikely to contract bTB from meat or milk unless it is raw.

 

Bovine TB is most likely to pass through body fluids, for example breathing in infection in a barn.

 

Quinney said farmers, workers in abattoirs and vets are the most likely to get bTB from cattle, as well as people who drink unpasteurised milk, which was the main route of infection in the past.

 

He said the cull was necessary to protect these people, as well as stop any risk in the food chain, and stop the suffering for cows, badgers and other animals at risk of the disease.