6. Record the following in the remarks column or in the appropriate place in the testing record against the affected animal:

• any suspicious or unusual signs at the injection site, including the following:
• exudation
• necrosis
• heat
• pain
• swelling of the pre-scapular lymph node
• any evidence of:
  • skin TB
  • Johne's Disease
  • the presence of a Johne's Disease vaccine nodule in the brisket.

7. Clinical signs such as exudation, necrosis, heat, acute pain or extreme swelling of the bovine tuberculin injection site (and/or the pre-scapular lymph node) are rare and do not reflect the nature of the typical allergic reaction to the intradermal injection of bovine tuberculin in sensitised cattle.

8. Whenever a TB tester encounters any of the unusual signs listed above, they must:

• treat them as suspicious
• investigate them (especially if observed in more than one animal or in different testing events of the same cattle herd) and
• contact APHA immediately.

9. A test is not complete unless all eligible animals are either tested or slaughtered. Any animals not presented for measuring on day two are classified as ‘untested’. The herd test is incomplete and restrictions may be served on the herd, should the test become overdue. This will include any cattle that are wild and aggressive and cannot be tested for reasons of health and safety to the tester or welfare of the animal. Animals cannot be retested for 60 days.

11. From 1 April 2023 for any herd located in the specifically allocated spatial units or clusters of 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 OVs, the interpretation to be applied will have been identified by APHA and will in turn automatically be 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 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.

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.

3. OVs in Wales only must ask the herd owner if there is any intention to sell any of the cattle in the next 60 days. If so the OV must supply the farmer with the appropriate number of pre-movement testing stickers. The sticker is to be placed on either:

• the back of the passport (check book style passport) or
• the front of the passport (new style passport).

4. It is the responsibility of the herd owner to complete the following details on the sticker:

• enter the day of day one of the test (TT1)
• herd owners signature
• name of OV practice that conducted the TB test.

4. Non-Sam enabled OVs must immediately submit the test report (TB52/TB52(Welsh)) to the APHA office.

5. Sam enabled OVs must submit the test results on Sam as soon as possible, ensuring that the Sam OV Practice User Guide is followed which has now been amended following an update to Sam to reflect the introduction of Information Note (TB181). Where 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.

6. If an owner wishes to urgently move stock off the premises, the OV must inform the APHA office immediately and submit the test results on Sam or by post so that the results can be reviewed by an APHA Veterinarian as necessary.

Restrictions on Restricted Herds/Animals

6. In England and Wales, where a DNA marking tag is applied to a reactor, the number of the tag should be recorded in the remarks column or in the appropriate place in the testing record.

7. In Scotland, any reactor cattle identified at the TB test by an OV, will be tagged by APHA staff at the valuation visit using a metal 'R' tag.

7. On return to the office/practice, package and despatch the sample capsules to the Central DNA Tagging Team, as detailed in Submission of Samples from DNA Marking Tags.

Scotland

1. In Scotland, any reactor cattle identified at the TB test by an OV, will be tagged by APHA staff at the valuation visit.