Concern over the standard of tuberculin testing in deer

Authors: Joyce GF, Seifert DA, Hughes PL
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 33, Issue 3, pp 40, Mar 1985
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Deer, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Biosecurity, Diagnostic procedures, Disease control/eradication, Epidemiology, Mycobacterial, Disease/defect, Zoonosis, Infectious disease, Public health
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: During the last three years we have become increasingly involved with the tuberculin testing of deer. This experience has convinced us of the importance of carefully applying and reading the test. A recent case has highlighted this. A client bought eight hinds which were negative to a tuberculin test prior to sale. At a retest eight weeks later four were positive. One of these reactors was autopsied and lesions grossly and histopathologically typical of tuberculosis were found. A culture of the lesion was positive for M.bovis. The reactions found in the four deer, although 50-80 mm in diameter, were not visible. They required careful palpation and comparison with normal skin thickness to detect, and in this case consisted of oedema and thickening of the skin to about twice normal thickness. The sit& prepared for the sale test were only 4 cm square and in two of the deer the hair had not even been clipped close to the skin but had been left long and uneven. While it is possible the hinds were negative to the sale test the appearance of these sites causes concern that positive reactions were not diagnosed…

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