Abstract
BOVINE tuberculosis is one of the most serious scourges that afflicts cattle in Great Britain, causing an annual loss which has been estimated to amount to £2,000,000 annually. The disease in dairy herds is also responsible for much human tuberculosis, particularly in children. The eradication of tuberculosis from herds is now receiving serious attention. The detection of tuberculous animals by means of the tuberculin test is employed in all schemes for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis, but in recent years modifications in methods of preparation of tuberculin and in its application have been introduced. The need for detailed research into various problems associated with the tuberculin test was recognized by the Joint Tuberculosis Committee of the Medical Research and Agricultural Research Councils, and work on the subject was undertaken at the Institute of Animal Pathology, Cambridge, by Prof. J. B. Buxton and Mr. R. E. Glover, and the results of their investigations are published in a report issued by the Agricultural Research Council (“Tuberculin Tests in Cattle”. H.M. Stationery Office. 1s. 6d. net). After dealing with the different methods of applying the tuberculin test, sections are devoted to the value of several types of tuberculin, sensitization and desensitization of tuberculous and non-tuberculous cattle to tuberculin, and the possibility of ‘doping’ against the various tests. Experiments are also described in which attempts were made to sensitize normal cattle to tuberculin itself, and finally, the significance of reactions, resulting from infections with organisms closely allied to the bovine tubercle bacillus, is discussed.
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Tuberculin Tests in Cattle. Nature 144, 108 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144108b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144108b0