After the mass slaughter in Vorarlberg due to cases of bovine tuberculosis, including on a farm in the Bregenzerwald, it has now become known that the pathogen has also infected a person. A test revealed tuberculosis pathogens.
However, tuberculosis could not be proven and all X-ray examinations of the lungs were normal, the state medical directorate said. There is no acute risk of infection for others, it was said on Friday. The person who tested positive is treated and other contacts are identified.
As already reported, after an initial suspicion and several slaughters, the authorities ordered the slaughter of all 107 animals on a large farm in the Bregenzerwald. As part of an environmental investigation, people living on the farm were also tested.
Further investigation in three months
A Quantiferon test came back positive, which the state medical director says means the person had contact with TB pathogens – possibly at some point in the past. If the Quantiferon test is positive, it is possible to wait and have another X-ray examination of the lungs in three months or take medication as a precaution.
Three other farms in the Bregenzerwald and Montafon are currently temporarily closed due to suspected tuberculosis.
Red deer are considered carriers of tuberculosis
Vorarlberg has been combating tuberculosis in game and livestock for years. A possible source of infection is staying on mountain pastures, where farm animals can come into contact with red deer, which are considered carriers of tuberculosis. Transmission of the disease from livestock to humans, once widespread, is now rare.
Source: Krone
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