Almost one in every 16 cattle herds across the country that had a clear TB test before August 2024 went down with the disease in the last year.

The 12-month herd incidence rate for TB was 6.17% at the end of last month, having finished out 2024 at 6.04% before jumping to 6.40% at the end of July, according to the Department of Agriculture’s figures. The equivalent figure had been just 4.94% in 2023 and 4.31% in 2022.

There were five regional veterinary office districts where this number exceeded 10% in the year up to 31 August, with these being Meath, Tipperary north, Wicklow west, Wicklow east and Dublin.

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The counties with the lowest herd incidence were Mayo at 2.49%, Donegal at 3.95%, Roscommon at 4.01%, Clare at 4.18% and Limerick at 4.21%.

However, of these lower herd incidence areas, both Donegal and Roscommon witnessed increases when the 12 months up to the beginning of September are compared with 2024’s calendar year.

The 12-month herd incidence for TB reached its lowest ever level of just 3.27% in 2016, before climbing every year since, aside from 2019 and 2020, when the metric stabilised before resuming its upwards climb.

The last time the 12-month herd incidence rate was higher than it is now was in 2003, when it was on a downwards trend from 6.37%.