Control and eradication of tuberculosis in cattle: a systematic review of economic evidence.

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of zoonotic importance for which control and eradication programmes have been carried out in many countries for decades. While the impact of these programmes on public health is still uncertain, the impact on trade is significant because of movement restrictions for animals, costs of testing and culling. The objective of this systematic review was to provide a contribution to the general debate over costs against benefits for the control and eradication of bovine TB in cattle. The search strategy was performed on four electronic databases following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The selection process, data abstraction and quality appraisal were carried out according to the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. The search identified 66 articles out of which eight fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The evidence gathered in this review by combining the conclusions of the most methodologically sound articles supports the idea that, when multiple cost and benefit components are taken into account, efforts to control or eradicate bovine TB may be effective in reducing disease prevalence, economically viable and worth doing. British Veterinary Association.