The testing requirements for herds that have suffered a TB breakdown in recent years are to be stepped up as part of the Department of Agriculture’s new strategy to tackle bovine TB.

From April 2021, new EU animal health laws will require that all cattle moving out of a herd undergo pre- or post-movement testing unless both the animal and the herd of origin were TB tested in the preceding six months.

The Department has indicated that this requirement will be rolled out gradually and the initial focus will be on animals from herds that have had a breakdown in recent years.

The full details of what herds will be included has yet to be finalised. In TB risk letters issued by the Department, some 20,000 herds with a breakdown within the last three years were defined as high risk, these herds will likely be the first targets for the measure.

High-risk herds

The most draconian measures will be introduced for some 500 herds which have a history of several breakdowns, or of a large extended breakdown.

Each of these herds will be subject to a tailored risk management plan along with a requirement for all cattle moving out of the herd to have a pre-movement test in the 20 days preceding the movement.

There will be additional focus on all herds that experience an extended breakdown. Among the options to be considered are detailed investigations to identify and remove the source of infection, more stringent testing to identify infected animals, and removal of groups of cattle deemed to be higher risk.

Inconclusives

Inconclusive animals are also under the microscope in the new strategy. The Department plans to blood test all inconclusives and remove them from herds that suffer a TB breakdown.

The Department has committed to examining and reducing the risk posed by both badgers and deer.

It has however made clear that it has no intention of scraping the TB risk letter that sparked a major controversy last summer. While it has welcomed suggestions on how to improve the current format and promised to flag such communications in advance, it will continue to categorise herds.

Finances

The financing of the TB programme will also be in the spotlight having cost just shy of €100m in 2020. Recommendations from an independent cost-benefit analysis will be used to inform changes to the current funding model for the programme.

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