Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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590. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if herd lesion testing can be facilitated faster than the current turnaround time of ten weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32829/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Herds containing animals in which tuberculosis is suspected at post-mortem examination are restricted in accordance with Directive 64/432/EEC which requires that “Appropriate post-mortem, laboratory and epidemiological examinations shall be carried out on the carcass of the suspect animal.  The status of the herd will remain suspended until such time as all laboratory examinations have been completed”. These examinations can include culturing of the suspect samples.

In practice, it is not always necessary to proceed to the “culture” stage and, using figures from 2016, a histopathological examination in the laboratory was sufficient to confirm TB in 35% of lesions and the herdowner was informed that his herd remained restricted as required by the Directive. In 15% of submissions, histopathological evidence was sufficient to determine that the suspect lesion clearly was not a tuberculous granuloma and, in these cases, the restriction was lifted and the herd was de-restricted (9-14 days after receipt of the sample in the laboratory). In less straightforward cases, accounting for about 50% of cases, where histopathology does not suffice to make a final determination of the TB-status, the samples must be cultured.  This culture begins on the day that the histopathological result is available.  However, M.bovis is a particularly fastidious and slow growing organism in the laboratory and it can take up to 10 weeks from the time of slaughter of the animal until final culture results are available in conformity with OIE requirements.  The culture interval of M Bovis in the National Reference Laboratory compares very favourably with international practices in both the medical and veterinary fields and a negative result is usually available within seven weeks of commencement of culture.

My Department makes every effort to ensure that the culturing process in the laboratory is completed as expeditiously as possible in order to ensure that herds are not restricted for longer than necessary.

The performance of tests which offer a shorter time to results is currently being evaluated by the European Reference Laboratory.  Our National Reference Laboratory is contributing to this study.