Recent Approved Tuberculin Testers - England and Wales Updates

Subject: ATT Action on Completion of Skin Test instructions
Date: 12 February 2024
Summary of Update: The ATT Action on Completion of Skin Test instructions have been updated to include references to ScotEID or official livestock movement systems replacing the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) and British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS).
Updated Pages: Approved Tuberculin Testers England and Wales > Skin Test > Action on Completion > Submitting Test Results to APHA > Eligible Animals not Presented for Testing (Paras 2, 6 and 8 updated)
Subject: Skin Testing Equipment: Dairy Insight V-Grip TB injectors
Date: 11 September 2023
Summary of Update: Approved Tuberculin Testers - England and Wales instructions have been updated to reflect that the Dairy Insight V-Grip TB injectors manufactured by N J Phillips has been included in the list of equipment suitable for skin testing in cattle, pigs, goats and sheep.
Updated Pages:
  • Skin Test > Equipment for Skin Testing > Testing Equipment for Day One (Para 1 updated)
  • Skin Test > Skin Test Day One > How to Prepare the TB Syringe/Injectors (TB Guns) (Section heading updated)
    • Assembling the Dairy Insight V Grip TB Injectors (section added)
    • Needles (section updated)
    • Filling the McLintock Syringes (Section heading updated)
    •  Filling the DI B Grip TB Injectors (Section added)
  • Skin Test > Skin Test Day One > Routine Maintenance, Disinfection, Sterilisation and Use of TB Syringes/Injectors (TB Guns) (Section heading updated)
  • Skin Test > Skin Test Day One > Preparation of the Injection Site > Following Completion of the Test (Para 1 updated)
Subject: Post-movement Testing in Edge Area of England
Date: 01 August 2023
Summary of Update: The Tuberculosis in Animals (England) (Amendment) Order 2023 coming into force on 1 Aug 2023 extends post-movement testing requirements to the annual surveillance testing parts of the Edge Area of England. The Tuberculosis Test Types and Sam Codes: What to use and When - England (TR15(E)) and relevant instructions have been updated accordingly.
Updated Pages:
Subject: TB Policy Change in Wales
Date: 30 March 2023
Summary of Update: Instructions have been updated to reflect that from 1 April 2023, contiguous (CON, not CON6/CON12) and post-breakdown tests (6M/12M) in specified areas of North Wales will be read at severe interpretation.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Implementation of Approved Tuberculin Testers (ATTs) in Wales
Date: 30 September 2022
Summary of Update: Instructions have been updated to reflect the introduction of ATTs in Wales.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Policy for Authorisation of Official Veterinarians (OVs) in Great Britain (OV13) and the Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England and Wales (TR541).
Date: 30 September 2022
Summary of Update: The Policy for Authorisation of Official Veterinarians (OVs) in Great Britain (OV13) and the Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England and Wales (TR541) have been updated
Updated Pages:
Subject: Introduction of Operational Use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Testing in TB Samples
Date: 31 March 2022
Summary of Update: Instructions have been amended to reflect the introduction of operational use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing for TB tissue samples.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Tuberculosis Test Types and Sam Codes: What to use and When - England (TR15(E))
Date: 30 November 2021
Summary of Update: The Tuberculosis Test Types and Sam Codes: What to use and When - England (TR15(E)) has been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Cattle Transition in Scotland
Date: 04 October 2021
Summary of Update: Instructions have been updated to reflect that Scottish Government has transitioned Scottish cattle transactional services from British Cattle Movement Service to ScotEID from 4 October 2021.
Updated Pages:
  • ATT > Skin Test Day One > Day One Testing Actions > Animal Identification and Unidentified or Incorrectly Identified Animals
Subject: New TB England Order
Date: 1 October 2021
Summary of Update: Instructions and document have been updated as a result of the new Tuberculosis in Animals (England) Order 2021 coming into force on 1 October 2021.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Six-monthly Surveillance TB Testing of Cattle in the High Risk Area of England
Date: 30 June 2021
Summary of Update: Instructions have been updated as a result of the expansion of six-monthly surveillance TB testing of cattle herds in the remaining parts of the High Risk Area of England from 1 July 2021.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Electronic Provision of the TB Information Note (TB181)
Date: 21 June 2021
Summary of Update: Instructions and the TB Auditing Standard Operating Procedure (TR315) have been updated to confirm the requirements where TB Testers can provide the TB Information Note (TB181) to cattle keepers electronically.
Updated Pages:
Subject: TB Surveillance Testing Programme
Date: 02 June 2021
Summary of Update: Instructions for the Surveillance Testing Programme have been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: TB Testing Protocol
Date: 19 January 2021
Summary of Update: Instructions for Skin Test Day One, Injecting Tuberculin have been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Reporting Skin Test Observations
Date: 16 December 2020
Summary of Update: Instructions for Skin Test Day Two, Reporting Test Observations have been updated to provide additional guidance for reporting escapees or animals not presented and dangerous or unmanageable animals.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England (TR541)
Date: 27 November 2020
Summary of Update: The Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England (TR541) has been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Skin Test Day Two Instructions
Date: 11 November 2020
Summary of Update: The Skin Test Day Two instructions have been updated to confirm advice to be provided to cattle keepers regarding movement restrictions after a skin test with clear results and in regards to passport checks when reactors are disclosed at a skin test.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England (TR541)
Date: 2 November 2020
Summary of Update: The Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England (TR541) has been updated as part of the new Veterinary and Paraprofessional Training and Assurance contract which commences on 2 November 2020.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Six-monthly Surveillance TB Testing in High Risk Area of England
Date: 29 September 2020
Summary of Update: Minor updates have been made to the instructions as a result of the roll out of six-monthly surveillance TB testing of cattle herds in the High Risk Area of England.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Roll Out of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England
Date: 17 August 2020
Summary of Update: The Approved Tuberculin Testers (ATT) instructions and documents have been updated to reflect the changes agreed following the successful Pilot study, confirming the roll out date for ATTs in England and the requirements for the role. Obsolete Pilot documents have been removed from the instructions.
Updated Pages:

Removed Documents:

  • TB52(ATT) - Tuberculin Test Report and Certificate for Approved Tuberculin Testers (Pilot)
  • TR538 - Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Schedule - England
  • TR542 - Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Training Programme Evaluation Questionnaire
  • TR543 - Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Self Evaluation
  • TR545 - Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Customer Satisfaction Survey
  • TR547 - Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Evaluation of ATT Performance by the AVS
  • TR548 - Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Participating Veterinary Practice Feedback
  • TR549 - Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Exit from Pilot Questionnaire
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Collection of Feedback
Date: 16 September 2019
Summary of Update: Instructions relating to the process for the collection of feedback from farmers for whom an Approved Tuberculin Tester (ATT) has carried out a TB test have been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Customer Satisfaction Survey (TR545)
Date: 11 September 2019
Summary of Update: The Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Customer Satisfaction Survey (TR545) has been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Documents
Date: 21 August 2019
Summary of Update: The Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Schedule - England (TR538) and The Approved Veterinary Supervisor Role (TR540) have been updated to clarify the qualifications for the Approved Veterinary Supervisor (AVS)/deputy AVS role.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Publication of a Revised Version of the Policy for Authorisation of Official Veterinarians (OVs) in Great Britain (OV13)
Date: 20 June 2019
Summary of Update: The Policy for Authorisation of Official Veterinarians (OVs) in Great Britain (OV13) has been extensively revised.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Customer Satisfaction Survey (TR545)
Date: 10 June 2019
Summary of Update: The Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Customer Satisfaction Survey (TR545) has been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Phase 2
Date: 13 May 2019
Summary of Update: Instructions and the ATT Pilot Schedule - England (TR538) have been updated to include Phase 2 of the Approved Tuberculin Tester (ATT) Pilot. The Policy for APHA Authorisation of ATTs in England (TR541) has also been updated to clarify the requirement for an Approved Veterinary Supervisor (AVS) to be in place prior to an ATT being granted conditional authorisation to test.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Sam Update 
Date: 02 May 2019
Summary of Update: Instructions have been updated to reflect the Sam update recognising the Approved Tuberculin Tester (ATT) role. ATTs are now registered under this role and are able to complete test results and pass the results to their supervisor for sign off and submission to APHA.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Audit and Feedback
Date: 02 April 2019
Summary of Update: Instructions and documents have been updated relating to the completion of feedback. Associated documents have been replaced by a Survey Monkey survey. Other documents have been updated.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Schedule and Feedback Forms
Date: 04 March 2019
Summary of Update: Documents have been updated relating to Sam access, the Customer Satisfaction Survey and evaluation of the Approved Supervisor Role.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England (TR541)
Date: 18 February 2019
Summary of Update: The Policy for APHA Authorisation of Approved Tuberculin Testers in England (TR541) has been updated to correct paragraph references following a recent update.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Sam Workaround
Date: 28 January 2019
Summary of Update: The Action on Completion instructions have been updated to reflect that Approved Tuberculin Testers (ATTs) will be given Official Veterinarian (OV) access to Sam when they are granted conditional authorisation. This is to ensure that they are recorded as the tester when entering results for animals they have tested. The Approved Veterinary Supervisor (AVS) must submit the results and this will be monitored for each test submitted.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot - Audit and Feedback
Date: 18 January 2019
Summary of Update: Instructions for Audit and Feedback for the Approved Tuberculin Tester (ATT) Pilot have been added along with associated documents. Two existing ATT documents have been updated to correct a reference to AVS and replace it with ATT.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Training
Date: 17 December 2018
Summary of Update: Minor amendments have been made to the Approved Tuberculin Tester Training instructions.
Updated Pages:
Subject: Approved Tuberculin Tester Pilot Study
Date: 12 December 2018
Summary of Update: A Pilot to test the use of Approved Tuberculin Testers (ATTs) commenced on 5 December 2018. Associated instructions and documents have been added to reflect this and further instructions will follow on audit and feedback as the Pilot progresses.
Updated Pages: