EURL for Bovine Tuberculosis

Bovine tuberculosis is a zoonotic disease caused by any mycobacterial species within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. This disease has had a great importance in both Animal and Public Health since the beginning of the European Economic Community and as early as 1964 the first legal initiatives to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis were adopted (Council Directive 64/432EEC). From the 21^st of April 2021 the Regulation (EU) 2016/429 ('Animal Health Law') regulates this disease in all Member States. Nowadays most of the Member States (MS) are officially free from bovine tuberculosis, but in some of the non-officially tuberculosis free MS bovine tuberculosis still causes important economic losses and reduced trade.

The VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) was appointed as the European Union Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis in 2008 (Commission Regulation (EC) No 737/2008).