No depopulation yet as 47 herds in area hit by TB

IT will be some months before a definitive cause of a dramatic rise in bovine TB in the Watergrasshill area of Co Cork can be established.

The Department of Agriculture and Food has designated the area a TB hot spot, after the number of herds with the disease rose in the past year from 14 to 47.

Wildlife involvement, including that of badgers, and the movement of millions of tonnes of earth for the construction of the 110m Watergrasshill bypass, are among the possible causes being probed.