Questions over bTB test as protestors form human shield to save alpaca

Image: Change.org/Helen MacDonald

Nearly 100,000 people have now signed a petition to save alpaca Geronimo from death, following a four-year long legal battle between Defra and his owner, after he twice tested positive for bTB.

As protestors begin a march on Downing Street this afternoon (9th August), activists have also formed a human shield around Geronimo’s pen today, after his owner Helen MacDonald lost a High Court battle to save him last week. Public figures calling for Geronimo to be given a re-test include actress Joanna Lumley and the Prime Minister’s own father, Stanley Johnson.

Defra now has 30 days to enter the farm and can legally force entry to shoot Geronimo, Ms MacDonald says.

What is the controversy?

Geronimo reportedly tested negative for TB four times in New Zealand, using a skin test, but tested positive twice in the UK using the Enferplex test. Environment secretary George Eustice claimed in an article for the Mail on Sunday that the Enterplex test is over 99 per cent accurate, with false positives in only 0.34 per cent of cases – while the skin test is ‘far less reliable’, picking up infection in around a quarter of cases.

However, veterinary nurse Ms MacDonald, 50, who breeds alpacas at her South Gloucestershire farm, believes Geronimo is receiving false positives due to a tuberculin protein he was injected with to increase sensitivity to the blood test.

Mr Eustice claimed the Enferplex test detects the protein of bTB, not the immune response, so the theory has been dismissed – however, vet Dr Iain McGill, who is also a former government adviser and bTB expert, accused the minister of a ‘total misunderstanding’ of the science behind the Enferplex test, which he says Mr Eustice confused with the Actiphage test, according to the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, vet Bob Broadbent, who is a former president of the British Veterinary Camelid Society, is also quoted by the Mail as saying the government has not published any data on how priming alpacas before blood tests affects results, despite years of requests.

It was recently revealed that an 11-year-old alpaca, Karlie, was similarly euthanised on government orders following a positive test, after which a post mortem examination failed to find any evidence of infection with bTB.

Mr Broadbent, who has treated both Geronimo and Karlie, said: ‘I’ve known Geronimo for three years and conducted regular examinations including scans on his liver. I have seen no lesions or evidence of disease.’

Protestors have gathered in London today to call for a re-test for Geronimo, citing concerns over the impact of ‘priming’ before carrying out TB testing.

‘A fear of finding out further information’

The British Alpaca Society (BAS) has said it continues to support Ms MacDonald with the ‘exceedingly difficult circumstances’ surrounding Geronimo’s case. In a statement it said: ‘BAS highlighted concerns to Defra specifically in Geronimo’s case in March 2018 about the potential adverse effects of multiple priming before an Enferplex test in alpacas. To date no evidence has been produced to explain the effects of this practice on test results.’

BAS has written to Defra on several occasions and asked for controlled experiments to produce evidence on the effect of multiple priming on test results and has offered support and financial input. BAS notes that the low level of voluntary testing among its members ‘clearly demonstrates’ a lack of confidence in the regime, a good deal of which can be linked to the Geronimo case.

The society also said it endorses the request for a further test for Geronimo, but ‘to date such requests have been declined by Defra/APHA. It appears there is a fear of finding out further information’.

Boris’s father Stanley Johnson has supported calls to allow Geronimo a stay of execution and an actiphage test, describing the death warrant against Geronimo as an ‘absurd murderous errand’ in an article for The Sun. He added: ‘My message to the Rt Hon George Eustice, MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is: “Tear up that threatening letter, Minister. Write another one, a nice friendly one. Give Geronimo a new test. That’s all Helen Macdonald wants. Is that too much to ask?”

Former farmer Mr Eustice, writing for the Mail on Sunday, acknowledged that it is “soul destroying” for farmers who are forced to remove cattle due to bTB, noting his own struggles with several bTB breakdowns a few years ago, but added: ‘There are no easy answers when it comes to dealing with TB in cattle, and we will always need to pursue a range of measures.’

Ms MacDonald has told the press she will stand between Geronimo and any gunman who comes to the farm.

A Defra spokesperson said: “We are sympathetic to Ms Macdonald’s situation – just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease. It is for this reason that the testing results and options for Geronimo have been very carefully considered by Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and its veterinary experts, as well as passing several stages of thorough legal scrutiny.

“Bovine tuberculosis is one of the greatest animal health threats we face today and causes devastation and distress for farming families and rural communities across the country while costing the taxpayer around £100m every year. Therefore, while nobody wants to cull infected animals, we need to do everything we can tackle this disease to stop it spreading and to protect the livelihoods of those affected.”

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