Contact with animals

Vorarlberg resident tests positive for TB pathogen

Cattle can become infected with TB from red deer.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

A person in Vorarlberg who had contact with TB-infected animals has now tested positive for the pathogen. However, this does not necessarily mean that they have TB. 

In Vorarlberg, following several cases of bovine TB, a person has tested positive for the tuberculosis pathogen. The state of Vorarlberg has confirmed that there is currently one person in Vorarlberg who had contact with infected livestock and tested positive for tuberculosis in a blood test, known as a Quantiferon test. There was already evidence of pathogen contact in 2025.

The test does not confirm active tuberculosis, but indicates that the person has had contact with tuberculosis either currently or in the past. The test remains positive for life after a person has had tuberculosis. In this specific case, an X-ray examination was performed, but the results are not yet available. If a new case of tuberculosis is confirmed, appropriate treatment will be started in accordance with the instructions of the tuberculosis care physician. Tuberculosis can be treated with antibiotics.

"However, it should be added that this does not prove that the person was infected by an infected animal," emphasized the state. Since 2019, there have been between 12 and 20 new diagnoses of tuberculosis in humans in Vorarlberg each year. The number of cases caused by red deer tuberculosis in these years was between zero and one, so they are very rare. A connection with cases in wild or domestic animals can only be confirmed if the patient has Mycobacterium caprae, Lechtal type, and a link to a strain that has been detected in farm or wild animals, the state said.

Cattle can become infected with TB from red deer.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

Various routes of infection possible
Humans can become infected through raw milk, raw meat, and slaughtering, but also by inhaling the pathogen in contaminated stables. There is no immediate danger to consumers due to the wide range of tests, pasteurization, and safety measures in place.

Contact with infected red deer
The animal disease, which is transmitted from wild animals to livestock, has been causing damage to agriculture in Vorarlberg for years. A series of measures on farms, in hunting, and extensive testing are intended to curb the disease. The main source of tuberculosis infection in cattle is considered to be contact with TB-infected red deer during the alpine summer. According to the state, six farms are currently still closed due to TB, five of them in the Bregenz district and one in the Dornbirn district.