TB lesions detected in factories double

Recent research indicated that due to the imperfections of the skin test, 21% of herds were harbouring infection at de-restriction.

Skin test detections had not kept pace with the increasing background level of bovine TB, and the breakdown size increased. File picture

The background level of TB doubling in the national cattle herd was one of the reasons the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine came up with the new five-point eradication plan that will come into effect on April 1 next.

“The rate of factory lesions has essentially doubled between 2019 and 2024,” said Dr Damien Barrett, the vet who heads up the Ruminant Animal Health Division of the DAFM.