She said that he is very fat and that his fleece was also extremely soft. She said that if he were sick, he wouldn't have any nice fiber.More than his looks, Ms. Macdonald is convinced by the stories of others about how the test appears to be misleading.Bob Broadbent is a Gloucestershire veterinary surgeon who has been treating camelids since 1986. He said that he has seen many cases of bovine tuberculosis over the years. Geronimo has not been diagnosed with tuberculosis since he was examined by Broadbent over the last three years.Dr. Broadbent explained that the Defras bovine tubeerculosis testing requires more than a blood test. It also requires an injection with tuberculin primer for 10 to 30 days prior to the test. While this might not cause any problems for cattle, it can sometimes lead to false positives in alpacas. The test detects tuberculin, but not tuberculosis.George Eustice (Environment secretary) countered by stating that Geronimo had tested positive twice using a very specific and reliable test.My family has a South Devon cattle pedigree and we have lost cows due to TB. He said that he knows how difficult it can be. I have great sympathy for farmers who lose their herd.Christine Middlemiss, the chief veterinary officer in the United Kingdom, agreed with Mr. Eustice. In a statement, she stated that false positives are much less likely than 1 percent.
