Blueprint for Beating bTB

Wales Shows How to Beat the Disease with 48% Drop in 4 years (and no badger cull).

A detailed analysis of how farmers in Wales are defeating bovine TB (bTB), without culling badgers, will be revealed tonight at a Royal Society debate into ways to tackle the disease.

The official figures show that the number of cattle slaughtered in Wales has almost halved since 2009, using just better controls and testing methods.

Dominic Dyer, CEO of the Badger Trust and Policy Advisor to Care for the Wild, said the evidence, which he will present tonight, should be a further nail in the coffin for the English badger cull.

“If it wasn’t clear already that both the cause of bTB and the solution to it come from farms, and not from the badger setts, then surely it is now. A 48% drop in four years is a staggering achievement, and it’s been done using science, good farming practice and common sense, a policy that we at Care for the Wild and the Badger Trust have been consistently asking for.

“With this impact, we should be praising and copying Wales’ methods. But in fact, just a week ago the new NFU President, Meurig Raymond, described it as a ‘failing TB strategy’. How on earth? But he also applauded the Republic of Ireland for reducing their TB by 50% ‘through culling’ – a statement that a BBC ruling says cannot be made as there is no evidence to back it up. I appeal to Mr Raymond to look at the facts – better controls and testing will beat TB, culling badgers won’t.”

In 2009, 11,671 cattle were slaughtered in Wales, and in 2013, the figure was 6,102, a 48% drop. The measures that have been taken to lead to this reduction have included:

• Annual testing of all cattle throughout Wales introduced in 2008 and maintained
• Zero tolerance on overdue tests; Movement restrictions
• DNA tagging of infected animals to ensure correct animals are sent to slaughter
• Setting up Intensive Action Areas to advise farmers on bio-security and best practice to keep disease out of the herd

A full breakdown of year-on-year measures taken is below:

2008

• Three Regional bovine TB Eradication Delivery Boards are established to consider regional approaches to dealing with the disease.
• The Tuberculosis (Testing and Powers of Entry) (Wales) Order 2008 grants powers for inspectors to enter land and to obtain a warrant for the purposes of testing non-bovine animals for the disease.
• TB Health Check Wales is undertaken to test all cattle herds in Wales for bovine TB. Upon completion (in 2009) the number of overdue tests is greatly reduced and there is a better understanding of the overall disease picture.

2009

• Inconclusive Reactor policy is changed in Wales to remove potentially infected animals sooner. The target for the time taken to remove reactor cattle is reduced to 10 working days.
• In November, the European Commission formally agrees the first ever UK bovine TB Eradication Plan (for 2010) which sets out the programme for the surveillance, control and eradication of TB in cattle in the UK.
• The North Wales Regional TB Eradication Delivery Board sets up a biosecurity ITA in a region of low recorded incidence of the disease. Biosecurity visits, undertaken using the scoring tool developed for use in the previous biosecurity ITA, take place in 2009 and 2011.

2010

• Intensive Action Area (IAA) is established in North Pembrokeshire. Biosecurity visits to all landowners in the IAA are undertaken using the scoring tool. Enhanced cattle controls, including six-monthly surveillance testing intervals and increased pre-movement testing requirements are also established.
• All cattle herds in Wales are now subject to an annual surveillance testing regime and, as a result, pre-movement testing for bovine TB is mandatory across Wales (except where exemptions apply).
• The Tuberculosis (Wales) Order 2010 removes some pre-movement cattle testing exemptions. It also includes the requirement to present cattle for removal to slaughter and allows for an animal that has not been tested to be treated as though it has tested positively for bovine TB and for it to be slaughtered on farm.
• The Order also introduces Veterinary Improvement Notices, which give the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) in Wales the legal authority to issue cattle keepers with a notice to take certain actions to reduce the risk of spreading TB either within their own herd or to others. Compensation payments to cattle keepers who do not adhere to regulations, do not follow advice provided in Veterinary Improvement Notices or allow their TB test to become overdue may now be reduced.
• The South East Wales Regional TB Eradication Delivery Board sets up a project on Gower peninsula to eradicate the disease locally through biosecurity measures and enhanced cattle controls.
• The Veterinary Laboratories Agency produces a report, following sampling of feral goats in North Wales. No bovine TB is found in the samples submitted.
• A Welsh Badger Vaccination Technical Group is established to consider the use of injectable BCG vaccine in badgers as part of a comprehensive approach to TB eradication in Wales.
• The European Commission formally agrees the UK bovine TB Eradication Plan for 2011.

2011

• The Tuberculosis (Wales) Order 2011 introduces further controls for non-bovines which allow for compensation and powers to test camelids, goats and deer. It also requires that keepers of these animals keep a record of their movement.
• Cattle testing positive for bovine TB are DNA tagged to further strengthen controls preventing spread of the disease. This helps to clearly identify reactor cattle for removal and to verify that the correct cattle have been slaughtered.
• An independent panel undertakes a review of the scientific evidence base regarding the eradication of bovine TB in Wales.
• The Badger Vaccination Technical Group recommends the implementation of badger vaccination in areas of high TB incidence and high cattle density. The recommendations are agreed by the Programme Board.
• The European Commission formally agrees the UK bovine TB Eradication Plan for 2012.

2012 The Strategic Framework for bovine TB Eradication in Wales is launched.

• A five year badger vaccination project begins in the Intensive Action Area in south west Wales. 1,424 badgers are vaccinated in the first year.
• All known goat and camelid keepers located within the IAA have their animals TB tested. No bovine TB infection is detected in any of the goats or camelids tested.
• The European Commission formally agrees the UK bovine TB Eradication Plan for 2013.

http://wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/ahw/disease/bovinetuberculosis/background/history-tb-controls/?lang=en

The figures for the previous 12 months ending in Dec 2013 show:

• For the 12 months up to the end of December 2013 there were 868 new herd incidents in Wales.
• This compares to 1,112 in the 12 months up to December 2012. This is a fall of 22 per cent.
• For the 12 months up to the end of December 2013 6,102 cattle were slaughtered due to TB.
• This compares to 9,287 slaughtered in the 12 months up to December 2012. This is a fall of 34 per cent.

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