Cork TB rates hit more than double the national average

The bacterium which causes bovine TB spreads from cattle to badgers and badgers to cattle. The Department wants to expand badger vaccination

Nationally, bTB levels in 2021 are lower than in 2020. File photo: iStock

A “serious” bovine TB situation across Co. Cork has been confirmed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Herd incidence is at 8.58% in the Cork North veterinary division of the DAFM (compared to 6.12% in February 2020), and 6.02% in Cork South. Across Munster, the bovine TB (bTB) situation is “variable”.

Levels in Co. Clare are at an all-time low, following a concerted effort over a two-year period by local stakeholders working in partnership, including DAFM staff, farmers and vets. 

Herd incidence in Co. Clare is currently 2.97%, the first time ever that bTB levels there have fallen below 3%, and hugely reduced from the 2019 herd incidence figure of 4.67%.

In other counties in Munster, herd incidences are 2.96% in Limerick, 5.76% in Tipperary North, 4.43% in Tipperary South, 4.67% in Waterford and 3.3% in Kerry.

Nationally, bTB levels in 2021 are lower than in 2020. This will be the first annual decrease in bTB since levels started rising in 2016, the year of a historic low of herd incidence at 3.27%.

Herd incidence in the 12 months to December 12, 2021, was 4.28%, compared to 4.35% on the corresponding date last year, and the number of reactors in the 12 months to December 12 was 20,692, compared to 22,697 on the corresponding date last year. According to the DAFM, this is evidence that the new policies implemented under the TB eradication strategy, supported by the stakeholders’ TB Forum, are starting to have an effect.

One of the actions in the new TB Strategy involves tailored individualised plans to help herds with extended high-risk restrictions get clear sooner, and stay clear after restrictions are lifted. There are currently three high-impact TB programmes running in local areas in Munster, one in Co. Clare and two in Co. Cork.

According to the DAFM, there are many reasons that TB levels are higher in some areas. Scientific research has identified key risk factors for TB which include dairy herd type, increasing herd size, and a history of TB.

In 2021, 56% of all reactors are from dairy herds, with approximately one-third of breakdowns occurring in dairy herds, although only 11.3% of farms in Ireland are specialist dairy holdings, compared to 54.9% specialist beef. About one-fifth of all cattle movements originate in herds that have been bTB-free for three years or less, says the DAFM.

The Department says the progress in Co. Clare shows what can be achieved by stakeholders working together, and there are actions which each farmer can take to reduce their TB risk, and advice videos, leaflets and a new app to report badger setts are available at www.bovinetb.ie.

The bacterium which causes bovine TB spreads from cattle to badgers and badgers to cattle. The Department wants to interrupt this spread by expanding badger vaccination across the country, and knowledge of all badger setts is critical for this to succeed.

The Department has a dataset of locations of some 47,000 badger setts, but says there are many more unknown setts. The new app allows farmers to assist the Department in locating setts and extending the vaccination programme, which will protect badgers and cattle from bovine TB.

There is no vaccination approved for use in cattle. Reducing the risk from badgers is only one of the many ways to reduce the risk of bovine TB in a herd. It is essential that any infected cattle are identified and removed before they can spread the disease further.

• Preventing the introduction of bTB into a herd is crucial.
• High-quality bTB testing reduces the threat.
• To reduce infection being left behind, cull all inconclusives.
• Take measures to reduce the introduction of infected cattle, maintaining a closed herd if possible.
• When selecting bulls for breeding, choose ones that are genetically more resistant to bTB.
• Reduce the risk of contiguous spread with well-maintained boundary fences.
• Good biosecurity is critical to protect cattle from a range of infectious diseases, not just bTB.