Bovine Tuberculosis

(asked on 4th July 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average cost is of (a) the current bovine TB skin test and (b) the gamma interferon test; and what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of each of those tests.


Answered by
George Eustice Portrait
George Eustice
This question was answered on 12th July 2016
  1. The average cost per bTB skin test.

    Costs will vary between regions but as an example; for 105 animals per test instruction, the average cost is £288.88 which equates to £2.75 per animal tested

    (This is the based on invoice costs as paid to Veterinary Delivery Partners divided by the number of test instructions and animals tested respectively.)

  2. The gamma test cost IFNG Test Cost:

Cost per test for:

Single test

5+ tests

10+ tests

High Specificity Test

£30.00

£24.70

£22.30

High Sensitivity Test

£22.00

£18.00

£16.25

The standard IFNG blood test is a comparative test, like the tuberculin skin test.

High Specificity Test for Officially TB Free herd cattle only.

This reduces the likelihood of false-positive results, but at the expense of a lower Sensitivity (i.e. the probability of detecting infected animals) compared to the basic IFNG test, as follows:

- Sensitivity: 74.0% [95% CI: 70.4 – 83.0]

- Specificity: 99.2% [95% CI: 98.6 – 99.8]

High Sensitivity Test for cattle in TB-restricted herds

This test is the standard IFNG test format and carries the highest Sensitivity (probability of infection detection), but at the expense of a lower Specificity (higher probability of false-positives) as follows:

- Sensitivity 90.0% [95% CI: 87.2 – 92.8]

- Specificity 96.5% [95% CI: 95.3 – 97.7]

The comparative tuberculin skin test has, on average, a Sensitivity of 81.0% [95%CI: 77.3 – 84.7] and Specificity of 99.98% [95%CI: 99.9 - 100].

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