Badger culling for the control of bovine TB has been extended to new areas of England, Defra Minister George Eustice announced on Tuesday.

Last week, a Defra spokesperson confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that new licences for badger control were being considered by Natural England following reports that culling was to be extended to five new areas in the southwest of England.

On Tuesday, Defra announced that seven additional licences for badger control measures covering parts of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset were now operational.

Prior to this, culling had taken place in three regions in the southwest of England. The West Gloucestershire and West Somerset regions are entering the fourth year of culling, with the North Dorset area entering its second year.

“The veterinary advice and the experience of other countries is clear – we will not be able to eradicate this disease unless we also tackle the reservoir of the disease in the badger population as well as cattle,” Minister Eustice said on Tuesday.

Consultations

Defra has also launched three consultations relating to the bovine TB eradication. The first relates to reporting, testing and movement restrictions on non-bovine animals suspected to have TB in England.

The second consultation is on having wider use of interferon-gamma parallel testing in TB breakdown cattle herds in the High Risk Areas (HRA) of England as well as using "severe" interpretation of skin tests.

Defra also launched a call for views as a preliminary step ahead of a possible full consultation on introducing default six-monthly herd testing in HRA, with annual testing in low-risk herds as well as testing in TB breakdown herds going from 60-day interval testing to three-month testing.

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