Tunisia to rollout bovine vaccination drive

The Ministry of Agriculture in Tunisia has announced a pilot vaccination initiative against bovine tuberculosis to advance animal health and livestock sector

The pilot will serve as a review of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine’s performance under Tunisian farming conditions before it can be rolled out nationally on a wider basis.

Expressing big anticipations from the pilot project, the Ministry believes that the BCG vaccine can effectively reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis. Officials stressed that vaccination would complement rather than replace existing disease control measures. 

The campaign will focus on epidemiological surveillance, biosecurity, animal movement controls and routine herd testing.

Caused by Mycobacterium, bovine tuberculosis largely impacts cattle, but can also infect people if they came into direct contact with infected animals or consumed contaminated meat or unpasteurised milk.

This vaccination drive will address rising human tuberculosis cases, which are reported to be 1500 annually, with almost 80% responsible for animal transmission, found Tunisia’s Order of Veterinary Surgeons. It is capable of spreading chronic illness, pneumonia, weight loss and death in infected cattle, limiting livestock productivity and affecting the supply of animal products.

In April 2026, veterinary authorities detected six cases of bovine tuberculosis in calves at a municipal slaughterhouse in Sousse, which pointed at the seriousness of the issue in adversely affecting the national cattle population.

The vaccination initiative is part of the government’s wider 2026-2030 livestock recovery strategy to restore cattle and small ruminant herds by improving forage production, digitising livestock monitoring systems and strengthening veterinary services.

The recovery programme will support Tunisia’s cattle, sheep and goat population, which has been seeing sharp decline since 2016 at 30%, going down to approximately 5.94 million head in 2022.

Officials believe that improving disease control will be essential to rebuilding livestock numbers, with successful vaccination potentially reducing losses associated with bovine tuberculosis by limiting the need for widespread culling of infected animals.