Just seven counties are witnessing more reactors than they had at a similar stage last year when 2025’s TB figures are set against the 14,658 reactors reported by the Department of Agriculture as having been found up to 28 June 2026.

While the numbers are down around 20% overall, these seven counties are bucking the trend with some on course to see a worsening of the situation if they witness similar numbers into the back end of the year.

Wexford’s 680 reactors is almost on par with the whole-of-year reactor figure for 2025, as is the figures for Dublin with the 170 reactors removed from herds in the first six months of 2026 close to the 178 removed over the whole of last year.

There were 413 reactors removed in Kildare county, hitting four-fifths of 2025’s total.

Reactors are tracking ahead of 2025’s half way levels in south Tipperary and Carlow.

The situation also looks to be worsening in west Wicklow, where the count hit 718 after having stood at 875 after 12 months of 2025 figures. Year-on-year, Louth and east Wicklow are roughly on par with removals on a pro rata basis.

The TB battle ground of south Cork saw reactors peak in 2024 at over 4,000-head but the six-month figure looks to be well back at 653 cattle, having dropped to 2,231 last year.

The north of the county is more in line with last year’s TB levels but is behind the removals witnessed in 2024 on a pro rata basis.

The new TB figures appear to also show some progress has been made in reducing reactors in counties Limerick, Laois, Leitrim, Longford and Clare - all of which removed the equivalent of around 40% that had been reported for 2025.

Numbers in Cavan ran at just 28% of 2025’s figures by the end of June, with Waterford and Roscommon at similar levels.

Longer-term trends

While the figures above show recent progress in stemming TB’s tide across many parts, this progress came from a position that had deteriorated significantly over the past few years.

Setting the new 2026 half-year TB reactor figures against the Department’s reporting on 2021 levels shows that reactors remain well up on those witnessed just five years ago.

The number of reactors removed in Carlow up to June 2026 was three times of that over the whole of 2021.

West Wicklow’s year-to-date removals in June were already 70% ahead of where they sat at the conclusion of 2021, as Wexford and Kildare had hit similar levels too. Just five regions look to have managed to stay behind 2021’s year-to-date curve at the mid-way of 2026 – Cavan, Cork, Galway, Offaly and north Tipperary.