Wicklow was the county with the highest percentage of cattle herds locked up with TB in 2023.

Almost 20% of herds in west Wicklow went down with TB in 2023, while nearly 12% in east Wicklow had TB last year.

Dublin was the county with the next highest herd incidence of TB, over 11%.

Just over 8% of herds in north Cork had TB last year, while the incidence rate in south Cork was almost 7%.

Both Meath and Laois had less than 8% of herds locked up with TB.

Some 7% of herds in Kilkenny had TB in 2023, while Monaghan had a herd incidence of almost 7%.

The county with the lowest level of herd incidence last year was Mayo, at just under 2%. Nationally, 4.89% of herds had TB last year, up from 4.31% in 2022.

Cork was the county with the highest number of reactors in 2023.

There were 2,916 reactors in south Cork, while north Cork had 2,893 head.

In Kerry there were 1,758 reactors last year, while Meath had 1,665 in the same time period.

Carlow had the lowest number of reactors of any county in 2023 at 144.

While Dublin was the county with the second highest level of herd incidence last year, it had the second lowest number of reactors at 181.

The latest figures from the Department of Agriculture show there were a total of 28,901 reactors in 2023. This represents an increase of 5,508 head on 2022.

TB eradication spend soars

While the number of herds locked-up with TB around the country is increasing, so too is the spend on eradicating the disease.

The Department of Agriculture’s total expenditure on TB increased by nearly €17m in 2023 compared with the previous year.

A total of €74.2m was spent on the National Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Programme in 2023, nearly a 30% rise.

Market valuation

On-farm market valuation was up 52% last year compared with 2022. Some €34.7m was spent, an €11.8m increase.

The expenditure on compensation was up almost 40% to €5m, while the spend on wildlife increased by 20% to €7.6m.

Money spent on TB research was down 26% to over €800,000.