Editorial: Advancing the development and implementation of regional, national tuberculosis control programs in livestock in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Tuberculosis in livestock caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) complex is a notifiable zoonotic animal disease (1), which has been eradicated or held to very low prevalence levels in many high-income economies. Successful campaigns were all build on a very strict test-and-slaughter strategy using the tuberculin PPD skin tests as diagnostic tool. However, tuberculosis in livestock remains endemic in most Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). This not only represents a threat to public health in those countries but also places a significant burden on their economies due to a negative impact on livestock productivity and the resources invested in healthcare, prevention, surveillance, and, when present, control and/or eradication programs. Moreover, tuberculosis in livestock affects a wide variety of species as well as breeds, raised in a wide variety of farming systems, in a broad range of different climates, thus ruling out a "one size fits all" approach for disease control. Since "traditional" test and cull programs are costly, very demanding on the livestock holder and may be ruled out as option for religious reasons, such programs must be tailored to ensure they are fit for purpose considering the respective socio-economic context in which they have to be implemented in each country.This research topic includes a variety of articles addressing some of the aspects of the design, description, evaluation, monitoring economic benefits/costs of surveillance and/or eradication programs targeting tuberculosis in livestock in LMICs negative bulls were shown to be heavier than reactor bulls indicating a production loss 93 due to Tb infection. Interestingly, it was also noted that test-positive animals were 94 eliminated faster from the herd tan negative animals not through slaughtered but often 95 sold directly to other farms, sometimes further away to other regions, posing a significant 96 risk for further spread of Tb. This highlights the need for stricter guidelines on the handling of Tb test positive animals and the urgent need for an animal identification and 98 tracing system.As mentioned before, the traditional way to control and eradicate tuberculosis 102 from a livestock holding is the test-and-cull approach using the tuberculin skin test (1).To assess the feasibility of such an approach in Ethiopia a pilot study was performed by In two articles, potential alternatives for the test-and-cull approach are described.