S. Korea develops cattle tuberculosis detection kit

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state quarantine service said Wednesday
that it has developed a new cattle tuberculosis detection kit that can help
quarantine sick livestock and reduce losses to farmers and the country.
The new gamma interferon kit has been tested to have very high detection accuracy
compared to imported products used as well as reducing cost for examining
animals, the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) said.
Imported kits such as Bovigam from Australia costs 20,000 won per animal, while
the new kit can carry out the same test for 10,000 won.
"At present, the kit can be used to find sick cattle but will be developed in the
next two years to check for sick deer," a NVRQS official said.
She said because the new kit permits quick return on test results losses incurred
by feeding sick animals that may have to be destroyed can be reduced. Animals
that have tested positive for tuberculosis are culled and buried with the
government footing the bill.
At present cattle that have tested positive with initial PPD tests must wait
60-90 days for a confirmation test, but the new kit allows a re-test in less than
10 days.
Cattle tuberculosis is categorized as a "List B" contagious disease by the
Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health and can be passed onto human in
very rare cases.
As of last year 1,507 head of cattle were infected with the Mycobacterium bovis
virus that causes tuberculosis, up sharply from 656 cases in 2006.
The number of deer that caught tuberculosis stood at 960 in 2009 from 27 three
years earlier.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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