CHANGES TO TB CONTROLS
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DEFRA has recently announced changes in TB control, based on recommendations from Bovine TB Eradication Group.  The main changes are that more farmers will have to pre-movement test and will experience more frequent routine testing. 

Firstly, the intention is to move away from setting intervals at parish level on basic historic disease incidences and to introduce an epidemiological risk based approach.  This change in approach will take time to develop. Therefore, in the interim it means that from 1 January 2010 all cattle herds in the South West and West Midlands regions will be placed on a yearly testing frequency.  These regions will be buffered to the North and East by strips of parishes on a two yearly TB testing frequency.  The rest of England will remain on the current three or four yearly TB testing regime for the time being.

The second main factor to come out of these changes is in the way which inconclusive TB test reactors (IRs) are tested.  As from 1 January 2010 these animals will now only be retested once and if still inconclusive will be removed as reactors (previously these IRs could have had up to two retests). 

The third change is to support to help farmers under TB restriction by providing advice to farmers to maintain viable businesses and ensuring they can continue to trade.

Badger Vaccine Deployment Project

The Food and Environmental Research Agency (FERA) has now commenced badger set surveys in the next stage of the DEFRA funded Badger Vaccine Deployment Project.  This will see the vaccination of badgers against bovine TB in six areas of England with high incidences in cattle, starting in summer 2010.  The six project catchment areas each cover around 75,000 acres and are based in the areas which are amongst the worst bovine TB affected areas in England (Devon, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Hereford/Worcester border).

However, even with these further developments, there is still little confidence within the industry that the spread of TB will be contained, let alone eradicated.  The general consensus is that TB will continue to be an ongoing problem within the livestock industry, with no prospect of noticeable improvement in the next five to ten years.

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