TB trends are currently moving in the right direction, but numbers are still "way too high", according to superintending veterinary inspector at the Department of Agriculture Damien Barrett.
Over 400 viewers tuned into a live webinar on Tuesday night where Barrett outlined the current state of play in relation to TB trends and answered farmers' pressing questions about how new measures in the recently launched TB action plan will impact their farming enterprises.
Barrett told the webinar, which was facilitated by Teagasc, that animal vaccination would be the "holy grail" in eradicating the infectious disease, which is currently affecting over 5,700 herds.
"It'd be a game changer, but, as it currently stands, we can't differentiate between vaccinated and infected cattle. We need the test that can differentiate that. We cannot wait around for a vaccine. While there’s a technical problem and there’s also a trade [export] problem," he said.
Current situation
The number of herds locked up with TB as of Monday 19 January has fallen by over 6.5% from 6,102 herds to 5,701 herds when compared with last year.
The number of reactors has also dropped from 41,305 to 37,188 in January 2026. This is a decrease of almost 10%. However, the number of slaughterhouse cases are continuing to rise. They have risen from 2,909 to 3,069 in that 12-month period.
"There remains a fly in the ointment in that the number of factory lesions in cattle coming from non-restricted herds is continuing to rise.
"There are two views on that: one is that there is a disease going undetected, the other is that there's infection in the population that's working its way through the system. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle," Barrett explained.
While there has been an improvement in the number of reactors and herd incidence over the last six months, Barrett has said that herd incidence of 5.68% is too high and current reactor numbers are double what they were in 2018.
Irish dairy herds, he added, had their lowest levels of TB after quotas were abolished in 2015 when "complacency set into the system", Barrett said.
"What we’re trying to set about in this plan is to empower people to make decisions to take back control and not be controlled by this disease.
"We’re not declaring victory and we won't be declaring victory any time soon because we're not in a position to, but, at this point in time, we’ve stopped it going up. We need to take aggressive action to start to push it down and this action plan is designed to do that," he said.
New rules
The five-point TB action plan aims to:
Support herds that are already free of TB to remain free.Reduce the impact of wildlife.Detect infection as early as possible.Help farmers improve on-farm bio-security. Reduce the spread of TB from known high risk animals. Among some of the major changes down the tracks for farmers include a 30-day pre-movement test for all dairy cows before moving into a new herd and testing of contract-reared heifers before coming home.
A two-year movement ban has also been placed on high-risk cohorts from herds with over 80 cows. These animals can only go direct for slaughter or to a controlled finishing unit.
The target date for the implementation of measures under the new TB action plan is 1 April. It is the Department's intention that each measure will be introduced at the same time.
TB trends are currently moving in the right direction, but numbers are still "way too high", according to superintending veterinary inspector at the Department of Agriculture Damien Barrett.
Over 400 viewers tuned into a live webinar on Tuesday night where Barrett outlined the current state of play in relation to TB trends and answered farmers' pressing questions about how new measures in the recently launched TB action plan will impact their farming enterprises.
Barrett told the webinar, which was facilitated by Teagasc, that animal vaccination would be the "holy grail" in eradicating the infectious disease, which is currently affecting over 5,700 herds.
"It'd be a game changer, but, as it currently stands, we can't differentiate between vaccinated and infected cattle. We need the test that can differentiate that. We cannot wait around for a vaccine. While there’s a technical problem and there’s also a trade [export] problem," he said.
Current situation
The number of herds locked up with TB as of Monday 19 January has fallen by over 6.5% from 6,102 herds to 5,701 herds when compared with last year.
The number of reactors has also dropped from 41,305 to 37,188 in January 2026. This is a decrease of almost 10%. However, the number of slaughterhouse cases are continuing to rise. They have risen from 2,909 to 3,069 in that 12-month period.
"There remains a fly in the ointment in that the number of factory lesions in cattle coming from non-restricted herds is continuing to rise.
"There are two views on that: one is that there is a disease going undetected, the other is that there's infection in the population that's working its way through the system. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle," Barrett explained.
While there has been an improvement in the number of reactors and herd incidence over the last six months, Barrett has said that herd incidence of 5.68% is too high and current reactor numbers are double what they were in 2018.
Irish dairy herds, he added, had their lowest levels of TB after quotas were abolished in 2015 when "complacency set into the system", Barrett said.
"What we’re trying to set about in this plan is to empower people to make decisions to take back control and not be controlled by this disease.
"We’re not declaring victory and we won't be declaring victory any time soon because we're not in a position to, but, at this point in time, we’ve stopped it going up. We need to take aggressive action to start to push it down and this action plan is designed to do that," he said.
New rules
The five-point TB action plan aims to:
Support herds that are already free of TB to remain free.Reduce the impact of wildlife.Detect infection as early as possible.Help farmers improve on-farm bio-security. Reduce the spread of TB from known high risk animals. Among some of the major changes down the tracks for farmers include a 30-day pre-movement test for all dairy cows before moving into a new herd and testing of contract-reared heifers before coming home.
A two-year movement ban has also been placed on high-risk cohorts from herds with over 80 cows. These animals can only go direct for slaughter or to a controlled finishing unit.
The target date for the implementation of measures under the new TB action plan is 1 April. It is the Department's intention that each measure will be introduced at the same time.
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