Figures released this week by Defra show that more than 28,000 cattle were slaughtered in England last year after testing positive for bTB. They also show more than 3,950 herds that had previously been clear of the disease were affected by it.

The quarterly publication - which can be read here - gives details of bTB incidence in Great Britain. The stats show that new herd incidents and herds under disease restrictions rose in England in the year to December 2015, but in Scotland and Wales disease levels remained relatively unchanged. The number of animals slaughtered under TB control rules declined in the edge and low-risk areas of England and in Scotland, but rose in Wales and the High-risk area of England.

Upon releasing the figures, Defra said “Short term changes in these statistics should be considered in the context of long term trends.” The long-term data suggest “There  has  been  an  overall  long-term  upward  trend  in  the incidence  of  TB  in  cattle  herds  in England and Wales since 1996 [when the stats release began] although there is evidence that the rate of new incidents is levelling off in most areas of the country.” However, in Wales, the situation appears to have eased somewhat since 2012.  

Figures showing a rise in bTB were published just before new cattle-based control measures come into force in England. Tighter movement restrictions and government funded pre-sales testing between risk areas will come into force on 6th April, and animal health agency APHA will begin offering private Interferon Gamma blood tests to diagnose TB under certain conditions.
 
On Wednesday, NFU Deputy President Minette Batters said, “These figures make sombre reading for anyone who is fighting a daily battle against bovine TB or has experienced the devastation it can cause to a farming family business.”
 
She said, “These figures reinforce the need for the Government’s 25-year TB eradication strategy to be implemented in full as quickly as possible. We have always said that all available options need to be used – cattle movement controls, cattle testing and biosecurity all have a role to play. But dealing with the disease reservoir in wildlife in areas where it is endemic is a vital part of the strategy.

“The Secretary of State’s desire to see culling rolled out over a wider area this year as part of the strategy is shared by the farming industry. The fact so many areas have expressed an interest not only shows that farmers and landowners support the policy, it also shows how widespread the bTB problem is and how urgently it needs to be dealt with.”
 
However, commenting on the new bTB control measures last week, NFU animal health advisor Catherine McLaughlin said the union is “disappointed” that Defra is pressing ahead with more stringent testing for herds in the high-risk area and said some measures set to come into effect in April “Could restrict and curtail trade to unsustainable levels.”

Animal welfare campaigners from the Badger Trust welcomed the cattle-based measures last week, as well as government funding that will help farmers with the financial burden of stricter testing. They urged the government to look to Wales, where a proposed badger culling policy was replaced by cattle-based measures and a vaccination programme in 2012.

Though Natural England has received more expressions of interest from cull companies in the South-West this year, animal welfare campaigners have suggested that, given further cuts to the department’s budget and increasing costs in other priority areas like flood funding, Defra is coming under mounting pressure to produce evidence that its expensive culling policy is working.

On Wednesday, NFU’s Minette Batters acknowledged, “The only analysis carried out in the cull zones - the surveillance report issued by the Animal and Plant Health Agency last year covering the first year of the culls - showed there was no statistically significant changes in the number of cases of cattle bTB inside or outside the cull areas in that period.” However, she said, “This is in line with what was expected as the Randomised Badger Cull Trials (RBCT) indicated that there would not be evidence of any impact at that stage.”

Lord Krebs, the architect of the RBCT has criticised the badger culling policy, saying, "I would go down the vaccination and biosecurity route rather than this crazy scheme that may deliver very small advantage, may deliver none.”