Animal and Plant Health Agency
Access to Information Team
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Woodham Lane
New Haw
www.gov.uk/apha
Addlestone
Surrey
KT15 3NB
Ms Buckley
Our ref: FOI2023/13473
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
14 July 2023
Dear Ms Buckley
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Brucella canis testing Thank you for your request for information of 10th July about Brucella canis testing.
APHA have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
Your information request and our response are set out below:
Many thanks for sending me this information. Much appreciated, and I appreciate that
this is interim information.
So, based on the current state of information vis a vis the specificity of the ELISA
(98.91%) and the specificity of the RSA (98.68%), if a veterinary practice was to use the
RSA/ELISA combination of testing (as opposed to the SAT & ELISA) in a parallel testing
approach (i.e. both tests carried out together, and if either test is positive then the dog is
treated as sero-positive), we would expect the positive predictive value (+ number of
false positives among dogs that test positive to be):
If the prevalence is 1%:
- the PPV wil be: 27% (so in every 100 dogs that tested positive, 73 would be false
positives on average) If the prevalence is 2%:
- the PPV wil be: 43% (so in every 100 dogs that tested positive, 57 would be false
positives on average) If the prevalence is 3%:
the PPV wil be: 54% (so in every 100 dogs that tested positive, 46 would be false
positives on average) If the prevalence is 4%:
the PPV wil be: 61% (so in every 100 dogs that tested positive, 39 would be false
positives on average) If the prevalence is 5%:
the PPV wil be: 66% (so in every 100 dogs that tested positive, 34 would be false
positives on average) These are very high values and I wondered what guidance the
Chief Veterinary Officer would give in respect of this, should veterinary professionals be
considering using this combination (given that it is stil available to request)?
It is looking like the prevalence of BC among overseas European dogs imported into the
UK wil be at the lower end of the scale which would suggest that, if the chief veterinary
officer is advising euthanasia (which some veterinary professionals appear to believe is
the recommendation for a dog that tests positive), that the Chief Veterinary Officer is
effectively recommending euthanasia of often or mainly dogs that do not have Brucella
canis. I welcome Christine Middlemiss' thoughts on this.”
APHA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Government and Food Standards Agency to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the
environment and the economy.
This does not appear to be a request for recorded information. The Access to
Information Team at APHA respond to requests for recorded information under the
legislation, for example the Freedom of information Act (FOIA) 2000.
Section 16 - Advice and Assistance
If you wish to ask the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) Christine Middlemiss an opinion or
guidance on a particular subject, they can be contacted via:
To contact us regarding policy enquiries (not covered by the above guidance) please
email
xxxxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
Or follow Christine on Twitter
@ChiefVet
This request is now closed.
An annex is attached giving contact details should you be unhappy with the service you
have received.
If you have any queries about this letter please contact us.
Yours sincerely
ACCESS TO INFORMATION TEAM
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
APHA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Government and Food Standards Agency to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the
environment and the economy.
Annex Complaints
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request, you
may make a complaint or appeal against our decision under section 17(7) of the FOIA
within 40 working days of the date of this letter. Please write to the Access to
Information Team at the address at the top of this letter or email
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx and the team wil arrange for an internal review of your case.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, section 50 of the FOIA
gives you the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a
decision. Please note that generally the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have
first exhausted APHA’s own complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Please click
here for further contact details.
APHA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Government and Food Standards Agency to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the
environment and the economy.
