Monitoring of the intra-dermal tuberculosis skin test performed by Belgian field practitioners

MF Humblet, K Walravens, O Salandre, ML Boschiroli, M Gilbert, D Berkvens, M Fauville-Dufaux, J Godfroid, J Dufey, A Raskin, L Vanholme, C Saegerman

    Research output: Contribution to journalA1: Web of Science-articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The present study aimed to monitor skin test practices as performed by veterinarian field practitioners in Belgium. For this purpose, an anonymous postal questionnaire was elaborated and dispatched to veterinarians involved in bovine tuberculosis detection. The questionnaire included items focusing on the skin test performance. International experts in the field of bovine tuberculosis were asked to fill the questionnaire and a scoring scale was built as follows: 0='ideal' answer, 1=acceptable answer, whereas 2=unacceptable answer. Furthermore, experts were asked to rank the questionnaire's items according to their possible impact on the risk of not detecting reactors. A global score was further calculated for each participant and a comparison of practices was carried out between the two regions of the country, i.e. Wallonia and Flanders. Significant differences were observed between both regions, a harmonization at the country level is thus essential. No veterinarian summed a null score, corresponding to the ideal skin test procedure, which suggests that skin-testing is far from being performed correctly. Field practitioners need to be sensitized to the importance of correctly performing the test. The authors recommend the questionnaire is suitable for application in other countries or regions.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalResearch in Veterinary Science
    Volume91
    Issue number2
    Pages (from-to)199-207
    Number of pages9
    ISSN0034-5288
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Keywords

    • B780-tropical-medicine
    • Bacterial diseases
    • Animal diseases
    • Bovine tuberculosis
    • Mycobacterium tuberculosis
    • Diagnosis
    • Detection
    • Test accuracy
    • Skin tests
    • Tuberculin test
    • Intradermal
    • Monitoring
    • Performance
    • Evaluation
    • Veterinary services
    • False-negative
    • False-positive
    • Belgium
    • Europe-West

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