Ethical statement about animal experiments

The protocols of the animal experiments involved artificial infection of M. bovis and antiserum production against the recombinant protein were approved by the Hubei Province Science and Technology Department, which is responsible for the ethics in animal experiments in Hubei, China (permit no. SYXK(ER) 2015-0084), in accordance to the approval of China Regulations for the Administration Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals (1988) and the Hubei Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals (2005). In addition the experiments on animals were performed under the strict supervision of Ethical Committee for Experimental Animals of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.