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Coxiella burnetii is the aetiological agent of Q fever, a zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution whose main reservoirs are goats, sheep and cattle.1 In ruminants, infection can cause abortion and reproductive problems, with large numbers of infectious organisms shed at parturition, in milk and in urine and faeces. Infection of humans occurs mainly via the respiratory route, with airborne spread possible beyond the boundaries of the infected farm.2 In Ireland, there were six recorded human cases of Q fever in humans in 2016,3 but it is reasonable to assume that the true human incidence is considerably higher. Infection with C burnetii is common in Irish cattle herds, with previous research estimating a herd prevalence of 37.9 per cent and an animal level prevalence of 1.8 percent.4 The Irish dairy sector is currently expanding following the abolition of EU milk quotas, and the trend indicates a likely expansion of the national dairy herd for some years to come.5 For this reason, we set out to obtain a more accurate estimate of the prevalence of antibodies to C burnetii in Irish dairy herds at this transitional point. Bulk tank milk (BTM) samples were obtained under a joint industry/government scheme where the main Irish dairy processors sent BTM samples to a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) veterinary laboratory. Up to 14,464 BTM samples collected …

An analysis of the molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis in badgers was made in four selected areas of the Republic of Ireland in which an intensive badger removal programme was being carried out over a period of five years. Tissue samples from 2310 badgers were cultured. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with IS6110, polymorphic GC-rich sequence (PGRS) and direct repeat sequence (DR) probes was applied to the isolates from 398 badgers, and 52 different rflp types were identified. Most of the isolates belonged to seven predominant types, and the other 45 types were represented by few isolates. An analysis suggests that some of these 45 types may have been introduced by the inward migration of badgers and others may have been the result of genetic changes to one of the prevalent types. The badgers were divided into groups on the basis of the sett at which they were captured, and RFLP typing was applied to isolates from two or more badgers from 85 groups. Multiple RFLP types were identified among isolates from 50 of these groups, suggesting that badgers probably moved frequently between group territories.

The conclusion from the randomised badger culling trial was that localised badger culling not only fails to control but can actually increase the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle. Professor Simon More and colleagues from University College Dublin question that conclusion, arguing that the data do not provide sufficient evidence to rule out alternative hypotheses.

The objective of this study was to validate four key farmer performance indicators (KFPI), identified in a previous study, as indicators of on-farm cattle welfare incidents in Ireland, through comparison of the distribution of these KPFIs in the national herd (n=109,925) and in case herds (n=18), where welfare incidents were previously studied. The KFPIs identified were late registrations, and exits from the herd by on-farm burial, by moves to knackeries and by moves to 'herd unknown'. Data were extracted from two Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine databases for the national herd and the case herds. All four KFPIs differed significantly between the case herds and the national herd, and one further KFPI was identified, namely moves to factories. The data for these KFPIs are routinely stored on national databases, which were established in order to comply with Regulation (EC) 1760/2000. Based on the results obtained in this study, it may be possible in the future to use routine data capture to improve strategy towards on-farm animal welfare. At this point, however, based on calculated specificities and sensitivities, none of these five KFPIs, at the cut-offs investigated and using several combinations, are able to distinguish herds with and without on-farm animal welfare problems at an accuracy suitable for routine national use in Ireland.

The 'Singleton Protocol' was adopted by the Irish Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (DAFF) in 1996 to address the incomplete specificity of the single intra-dermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT) used in Ireland for the detection of animals infected with bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The protocol allows the early restoration of disease-free status to herds with a single reactor breakdown, where the herd was not confirmed as infected with Mycobacterium bovis by epidemiological investigation, by postmortem examination or by further test. The current study examines the ability of the Singleton Protocol to identify false-positive reactors. It investigates the subsequent herd-reactor rate following single reactor removal and analyses the factors leading to a positive postmortem lesion outcome and a positive reactor retest result. Postmortem lesion results were obtained for 371 reactor animals from single reactor breakdowns that were killed at an export meat plant over a 19-month period. Epidemiological and test data for these animals and their herds were obtained from DAFF databases and analysed by univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Singleton candidates had an 18.7 per cent lower lesion rate than single animal breakdowns not meeting the singleton criteria. No significant difference was found between Singletons and non singletons in the subsequent reactor retest results. Skin thickness at the SICTT is the most significant determinant of a positive lesion result. The area bTB history was shown to be a significant variable in producing a positive reactor retest result.

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii , a bacteria whose main reservoirs are goats, sheep and cattle but which can also infect a wide range of mammals. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of exposure to C burnetii in sheep and goats in the Republic of Ireland. Serum from 2197 sheep from 119 flocks and 590 goats from 66 herds, randomly sampled, were tested for the presence of C burnetii antibodies using an indirect ELISA. In sheep, 15/2197 (0.7 per cent) samples from 10/119 (8.4 per cent) flocks were positive. In goats, 2/590 (0.3 per cent) samples from 1/66 (1.5 per cent) herd were positive. The results confirm the exposure of sheep and goats to C burnetii in the Republic of Ireland. Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by infection with C burnetii , an obligate gram-negative bacteria. The disease causes abortion and reproductive problems in ruminants, with goats being the most susceptible to clinical disease, followed by sheep and then cattle. Infected animals shed very high numbers of bacteria during abortion, although bacteria are also shed during normal parturition (Angelakis and Raoult 2010). Following the recent Dutch epidemic of human Q fever cases that were associated with C burnetii -associated abortions in goat herds (Roest and others 2011), a report by the European Food Safety Authority recommended that prevalence studies on C burnetii in animals should focus on small ruminants (EFSA 2010). To date, there has been no estimate using random sampling of the prevalence of antibodies to C burnetii in sheep or goats in the Republic of Ireland. Archived serum samples, collected for other disease surveys ( Brucella melitensis surveillance for sheep and caprine arthritis and encephalitis for goats), as required by European Council Directive 91/68/EC and Commission Decision 93/52/EEC, …