‘Deer not linked to outbreak of TB’

The Department of Agriculture has ruled out any link between the increasing numbers of wild deer in south Kerry and the biggest outbreak of bovine TB in living memory in the area.

Dozens of farms are in lockdown and 360 cattle have been removed from slaughter, in an area between Kells and Caherdaniel, on the Iveragh peninsula.

Deer and badgers are suspected. At a recent Kerry County Council meeting in Killorglin, questions about the role of deer in the outbreak were raised and emergency motions demanded a department response.