Action on Completion

11. From 1 April 2023 for any herd located in the specifically allocated spatial units or clusters in the Low and Intermediate TB areas of Wales, all CON (but not CON6 or CON12), 6M and 12M tests must be interpreted at severe interpretation. The work schedule for the relevant test in the affected herds will have the interpretation preselected at Severe.

12. For Sam enabled Official Veterinarians (OVs), the interpretation to be applied will have been identified by APHA and will in turn be automatically applied to the test results within Sam. Follow the Sam OV Practice User Guide for guidance on how to enter the results into Sam. This has now been amended following an update Sam to reflect the introduction of Information Note (TB181), where reactors or inconclusive reactors are identified. If reactors or inconclusive reactors have been identified you must record your actions using the appropriate selections on the Summary and Sign-Off tab and now refrain from detailing these in the Comments box.

13. For non-Sam enabled OVs, the interpretation to be applied will be confirmed on the OV Notification (BT04) request to complete the test and reviewed when the results are entered into Sam at the APHA office.

2. Sam enabled OVs must submit test results via Sam following the Sam OV Practice User Guide. This has now been amended following an update to Sam to reflect the introduction of Information Note (TB181) where reactors or inconclusive reactors are identified. If reactors or inconclusive reactors have been identified you must record your actions using the appropriate selections on the Summary and Sign-Off tab and now refrain from detailing these in the Comments box.

3. Non-Sam enabled OVs must submit test results to Worcester Specialist Service Centre (SSC) using the test report and chart (TB52/TB52(Welsh)TB52A/TB52A(Welsh)) reporting any cattle discrepancies with a manuscript report.

Eligible Animals not Presented for Testing

1. If any eligible cattle that are present on the holding at the time of test remain untested for any reason then the test must be submitted as a part test pending completion. Any such cattle must remain in the 'Assign Animals' tab on Sam and any remarks concerning this should be added to the additional comments in the 'Test Details' tab.

2. Any cattle on the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) list which the tester is able to certify as no longer on the holding at the time of the test should be moved into the 'Not Tested' tab on Sam and submitted as 'Not at Location' or 'Dead' as applicable. If there are no eligible cattle on farm that remain untested then the tester may submit the test as complete.

3. Where any animal on the list is not eligible for testing and further clarification of the reasons is required, the tester should add additional comments in the 'Test Details' tab.

4. OVs are not expected to resolve any discrepancies but to accurately record them when submitting the test. However if the OV is presented with evidence that the animal is no longer located on farm and records this on the test chart, it will be taken into account when assessing what action should be taken on receipt of the chart by APHA.

5. If OVs certify that the test is complete but there is no evidence to indicate why animals present on the CTS list have not been presented for testing, APHA will reinstruct the test for the missing animals. The test will not be considered complete until the missing animals are either tested or the CTS record updated.

6. OVs are requested to inform keepers at the time of booking tests and again when carrying out the test that they must be compliant with the cattle ID and movement regulationsThe Cattle Identification Regulations 2007, The Cattle Identification (Wales) Regulations 2007, The Cattle Identification (Scotland) Regulations 2007.and that all eligible animals must be presented for testing. Any discrepancies in their records must be addressed without delay prior to the TB test. They should be informed that if any animals remain unaccounted for when the test chart is submitted to APHA, the test will not be considered as complete. APHA will take actions as detailed above.

7. OVs should complete the CTS download in Sam as close to the test start date as possible so that recent movements on or off are captured on the submitted test record.

Official Veterinarians Claims for DNA Tagging

1. Only an OV applying a DNA marking tag at a private or farmer paid test can make a claim for DNA tagging, please refer to the instructions for Miscellaneous task and DNA packing and tagging claims for England and Wales for guidance. For an OV working for a Delivery Partner (DP) or for a sub-contracted OV practice to a Delivery Partner this cost is already included in the unit cost.

Subsequent Procedures in England and Wales

1. Unless the ear tag sample is required for DNA testing against ear samples collected at a slaughterhouse following suspicion of tampering, there should be no further action required from the official who applied the ear tag on the farm and sent the sample capsule.

2. Samples will be received, stored and retained at a central location. Checks will be made against information on systems to ensure that samples are received from all animals that have been classified as reactors. Where a sample has not been received, the OV/APHA office who identified the reactor may be contacted.

3. APHA will provide details of the reactor, including the reactor tag number to the slaughterhouse and where appropriate, the valuer to ensure it is checked at each stage of the process. Any discrepancies or missing tags will be reported to APHA.

4. Food Standards Agency (FSA) staff at slaughterhouses will check a proportion of all reactors and where suspicion of tampering is identified; ear samples will be collected and taken to APHA Weybridge. FSA will notify the APHA Central DNA Tagging Team who will send the corresponding ear tag sample for testing.

5. Ear tag samples will be retained until either:

  • FSA have collected ear samples, either following suspicion of tampering, missing reactor tag, risk based targeting or as part of an audit scheme. In these cases the ear tag sample will be sent to APHA for testing to compare against the ear samples
  • APHA are informed that the animal has been slaughtered and no ear samples were collected as described above. Once three months has elapsed, the samples will be destroyed unless part of an ongoing investigation.

6. Compensation payments for animals where samples were taken following suspicion of tampering or fraud will be withheld until results are received:

  • if the samples match, compensation will be paid
  • if the samples do not match, compensation should not be paid until the identity of the animal has been confirmed.

7. Where enforcement is undertaken, the person who tagged the animal and sent the ear tag sample capsule may be required to provide a witness statement.