{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T10:33:29Z","timestamp":1789641209431,"version":"4.0.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,28]],"date-time":"2025-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748390400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000277","name":"GB bTB research budget","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SE3333"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SE3333"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000277","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000277","name":"GB bTB research budget","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SE3338"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SE3338"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000277","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Defra on behalf of England, Scotland, and Wales","award":["SE3333"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SE3333"]}]},{"name":"Defra on behalf of England, Scotland, and Wales","award":["SE3338"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SE3338"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease which causes significant damage to the farming industry and remains a disease of global significance. Although control strategies have focused on a test and cull approach primarily based around specific cell-mediated immune responses, serological assays are increasingly being used as a supplementary test alongside skin testing and interferon-gamma release (IGRA) assays. The UK is moving towards the use of the Bacillus Calmette\u2013Gu\u00e9rin (BCG) vaccination of cattle as an additional targeted control tool against bTB. However, there are concerns over its potential impact on the outcomes of bTB diagnostic tests and other non-TB assays, such as serological tests for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Methods: We investigated the performance of commercially available serology tests designed to detect bTB and MAP using serum samples from BCG-vaccinated animals which were subsequently infected with Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). Results: BCG vaccination per se did not significantly impact the specificity of serological diagnostic tests for bTB or Johne\u2019s disease. However, increased numbers of false-positive responses in bTB serology tests were seen in BCG-vaccinated animals 3 weeks following a tuberculin skin test, where up to 23% and 54% of animals gave a positive result in IDEXX and Enferplex tests, respectively. Furthermore, M. bovis infection gave rise to false-positive test results for Johne\u2019s disease, irrespective of the animals\u2019 prior BCG vaccination status. Conclusions: Caution should be taken when assessing results from serology tests for bTB if tuberculin skin testing has occurred shortly before collection of blood from BCG-vaccinated cattle. Furthermore, these results highlight the potential for misdiagnosis of MAP infection when using serology tests in bTB-infected cattle.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines13060578","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,28]],"date-time":"2025-05-28T12:28:42Z","timestamp":1748435322000},"page":"578","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Impact of Bacillus Calmette\u2013Gu\u00e9rin Vaccination and Mycobacterium bovis Infection on Diagnostic Antibody Tests for Mycobacterial Infections"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Thomas","family":"Holder","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"TB Immunology and Vaccinology, Bacteriology Department, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Addlestone KT15 3NB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"Robinson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Animal and Plant Health Agency, Lab Services Group, Starcross EX6 8PE, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5539-3214","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gareth J.","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"TB Immunology and Vaccinology, Bacteriology Department, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Addlestone KT15 3NB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sawyer, J., Rhodes, S., Jones, G.J., Hogarth, P.J., and Vordermeier, H.M. 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