The Department of Agriculture has written to farmers in Co Meath outlining the TB situation in the county and warning that “additional efforts” are needed in areas with high TB levels to stop the disease, “including increased testing”.
Letters sent to farmers in Meath seen by the Irish Farmers Journal show a colour-coded map of TB breakdowns in the county in each electoral division.
Areas in red on the map mean that eight or more herds in that area have had reactors up to the third quarter of 2020.
White on the map means that there has been no reactors in herds in those areas. The amber and yellow colours on the map mean there has been less than eight herds that have had reactors in that area.
“If your herd is located within these areas with significantly higher TB levels, additional efforts will be required to stop disease, including increased testing,” the Department said in the letter.
Badgers
“As in other areas of the country, badgers are believed to contribute to the persistence of TB in County Meath. Where veterinary investigations identify a link between TB outbreaks and badgers, licensed culling of badgers in the relevant areas is being carried out.
“The wildlife programme currently in place in County Meath is being strengthened to deliver a more effective programme and therefore reduce the risk to cattle.
“The TB programme in Meath also focuses on such areas as epidemiology (how disease is distributed in the area), contiguous programmes, gamma interferon testing [the blood test], cleansing and disinfection, testing compliance and frequency and isolation of reactors,” it said.
The Department said that in the coming months it plans to “intensify its efforts in these areas with a view to addressing the level of TB”.
Farmers in TB blackspots such as Monaghan and Clare have been subject to increased testing in order to eradicate the disease since 2019.
In Monaghan for example, where a herd in a blackspot area has a breakdown, all neighbours within 150m are tested once every four months.
Those in a blackspot but not within 150m of a breakdown herd are tested twice a year, called a contiguous test.
Biosecurity advice
The letters also give farmers biosecurity advice on how to reduce the risk of TB from badgers, contiguous spread between neighbouring farms and inconclusive cattle.
Farmers are advised to consider “culling any cattle which ever tested inconclusive” and any cattle which were in the herd during any previous breakdown, particularly older cows.
20,000 high-risk farms
On Thursday, the Irish Farmers Journal revealed that 20,000 farmers face having to TB-test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm under the Department of Agriculture’s draft TB strategy to 2030.
Documents seen by the Irish Farmers Journal propose that all cattle moving out of high-risk herds will be required to have a pre-movement test 30 days before being sold.
Read more
TB testing to be ramped up on 20,000 farms
Progress in TB blackspot stalls
TB blackspot plan Clare farmers
Deer culling and badger vaccination to continue
The Department of Agriculture has written to farmers in Co Meath outlining the TB situation in the county and warning that “additional efforts” are needed in areas with high TB levels to stop the disease, “including increased testing”.
Letters sent to farmers in Meath seen by the Irish Farmers Journal show a colour-coded map of TB breakdowns in the county in each electoral division.
Areas in red on the map mean that eight or more herds in that area have had reactors up to the third quarter of 2020.
White on the map means that there has been no reactors in herds in those areas. The amber and yellow colours on the map mean there has been less than eight herds that have had reactors in that area.
“If your herd is located within these areas with significantly higher TB levels, additional efforts will be required to stop disease, including increased testing,” the Department said in the letter.
Badgers
“As in other areas of the country, badgers are believed to contribute to the persistence of TB in County Meath. Where veterinary investigations identify a link between TB outbreaks and badgers, licensed culling of badgers in the relevant areas is being carried out.
“The wildlife programme currently in place in County Meath is being strengthened to deliver a more effective programme and therefore reduce the risk to cattle.
“The TB programme in Meath also focuses on such areas as epidemiology (how disease is distributed in the area), contiguous programmes, gamma interferon testing [the blood test], cleansing and disinfection, testing compliance and frequency and isolation of reactors,” it said.
The Department said that in the coming months it plans to “intensify its efforts in these areas with a view to addressing the level of TB”.
Farmers in TB blackspots such as Monaghan and Clare have been subject to increased testing in order to eradicate the disease since 2019.
In Monaghan for example, where a herd in a blackspot area has a breakdown, all neighbours within 150m are tested once every four months.
Those in a blackspot but not within 150m of a breakdown herd are tested twice a year, called a contiguous test.
Biosecurity advice
The letters also give farmers biosecurity advice on how to reduce the risk of TB from badgers, contiguous spread between neighbouring farms and inconclusive cattle.
Farmers are advised to consider “culling any cattle which ever tested inconclusive” and any cattle which were in the herd during any previous breakdown, particularly older cows.
20,000 high-risk farms
On Thursday, the Irish Farmers Journal revealed that 20,000 farmers face having to TB-test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm under the Department of Agriculture’s draft TB strategy to 2030.
Documents seen by the Irish Farmers Journal propose that all cattle moving out of high-risk herds will be required to have a pre-movement test 30 days before being sold.
Read more
TB testing to be ramped up on 20,000 farms
Progress in TB blackspot stalls
TB blackspot plan Clare farmers
Deer culling and badger vaccination to continue
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