title: Control and eradication of tuberculosis in cattle: a systematic review of economic evidence.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, via A. Bianchi, 9, 25124 Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caminiti
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pelone
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: LaTorre
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Giusti
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saulle
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mannocci
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana, via Appia Nuova, 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.affiliation: Area Sanità Veterinaria della Direzione Politiche della Prevenzione e Sicurezza sul lavoro, Regione Lazio, via R. Raimondi Garibaldi, 7, 00145 Rome, Italy Dr Caminiti is also at Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana, via Appia Nuova, 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Della Marta
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana, via Appia Nuova, 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scaramozzino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D060740:Disease Eradication / Q000191:economics*; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control*