TB reactor numbers hit 11,417 in the first six months of 2023, up 37% on disease levels over the same time in 2022, Department of Agriculture figures released to the Irish Farmers Journal show.
Some 8,344 cattle went down with the disease by the mid-year mark in 2022, showing a reactor difference of 3,073 head by 2 July.
Costs associated with the Department’s TB control continue to balloon too, with the spend standing at €52.9m in the year to date. This is an increase of around 45% compared to the same period in 2022.
This rise in costs is put down to high cattle prices increasing costs relative to payments made in previous years, as well as higher overall disease levels.
Compensation and farm valuation payments accounted for less than half of the spend on TB from April to June.
The latest figures show that there are 13% more – 315 more herds – restricted at the end of June than there were three months ago.
The 12-month herd incidence rate increased from 4.24% up to June 2022 to 4.63% up to the same month this year.
Wicklow remains the county with the highest 12-month incidence rate, reaching almost 18% in the west of the county and just under 12% in the east.
Disease hotspots show up in Kilkenny, Dublin, Meath and north Co Cork also.
Some 380 cattle went down in Cork in the first six months of the year, with Tipperary coming second in reactor numbers at 186 and Meath at 175.
In Northern Ireland, plans for a new eradication programme have effectively stalled after a legal challenge was taken by campaign groups against a proposed targeted badger cull in TB hotspots.
The latest disease figures show that the 12-month herd incidence reached a record high of 10.84% in May 2023.
Over the first five months of 2023, there have been 960 new TB reactor herds, up 16% on the equivalent figure from 2022.
Over the same five-month period, the number of reactor animals found during tests totalled 6,638, up 20% on 2022 and 26% ahead of the figure from 2021.
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