Australia's campaign to eradicate bovine tuberculosis: the battle for freedom and beyond

In 1970, voluntary State-based TB control programs in Australia were replac ed by a coordinated national campaign to eliminate both brucellosis and tub erculosis from the cattle population. The campaign was funded and managed u nder tripartite agreement by State/Territory and Commonwealth governments a nd Industry. The tuberculosis component of the campaign relied on test and slaughter with surveillance for the disease in abattoirs and trace-back to property of origin an essential component. Because of the moderate sensitiv ity of the skin test ( similar to 70%), testing was repeated at prescribed intervals over a number of years. In the more hostile environment of northe rn Australia, novel strategies were developed to maximize musters and remov e 'at risk' animals. Australia is fortunate it did not have a feral host fo r M. bovis (apart from buffalo, which were included in the campaign) to com plicate eradication. A national granuloma submission program was implemente d in 1992 to increase the intensity of abattoir monitoring. Selective or to tal depopulation was used in some herds to achieve the requirements of the national Standard Definitions and Rules of the Campaign and achieve the sta tus of 'TB Free Area' in December 1997. Monitoring for tuberculosis has con tinued under the 5-year Tuberculosis Freedom Assurance Program and measures to further reduce the risk of new cases have been implemented. (C) 2001 Ha rcourt Publishers Ltd.