Figures released this week by Defra appear to show a continued decline in bovine TB in Britain.

The stats, provided to Defra by the Animal and Plant health Agency (APHA) on Wednesday, suggest a slight drop in bTB incidence over the past year. Though Defra cautioned that “Care needs to be taken not to read too much into short-term figures,” as the stats published include a number of unclassified incidents and may be subject to revision, official figures suggest that bTB declined over 2014, and that there were fewer incidences in January 2015 than in the previous January.  

The provisional incidence rate for January to December 2014 was 4.2 percent, compared to 4.5 over 2013. There were 4,713 new herd incidents in 2014, compared to 4,808 in 2013. Defra conducted over 5,000 more tests in 2014 than in the previous year (a total of 77,550).

Even so, 32,851 animals were slaughtered as reactors or direct contacts in 2014, which is over 200 more than were slaughtered in 2013. Though numbers fell in England, they rose in Wales.   

A separate set of figures released on Wednesday, which compare January 2015 to the same month in 2014, show that there were 494 new herd incidents, compared to 534 a year earlier. Despite a higher number of herds being tested, there was also a lower incidence of bTB in January 2015 (the Incidence rate was 3.9 percent, compared to 4.5% in 2014). The number of cattle slaughtered in January this year was slightly higher than the previous year.

Defra maintains that “There has been an overall long-term upward trend” in bTB incidence since 1996, when its data series begins. However, the figures suggest bTB has declined since mid-2011.

In response to the slight declines seen in recent statistical releases, anti-badger cull groups have claimed that stricter cattle-based measures which were demanded by the European Commission in 2012 are now beginning to pay off.

Though the NFU has said it is committed to an appropriate testing regime, the union said marginal reductions in the disease, such as those seen, will provide little succour for farmers in areas where bTB is rife. The union maintains that more must be done.

Speaking after Defra released its provisional figures for 2014, NFU deputy president Minette Batters said, “These figures are not good news for the thousands of farmers who are still dealing with the consequences of bTB on their farms every day. [They] re-emphasise the need for the 25-year TB eradication strategy for England published by the current government last April to be implemented in full - and as quickly as possible.”

Even so, Wildlife groups including the Badger Trust have criticised the NFU for claiming that its controversial badger culls are already delivering measurable impacts in the two pilot zones in South-West England. Last month, the Trust criticised NFU president Meurig Raymond for making claims about the effectiveness of culling, which it warned “Have no scientific foundation and are not supported by Government data from the pilot badger culls.”