A NUMBER of changes came into effect last month for cattle farmers in England in relation to bovine TB.
Among the changes, the parish system for TB testing is being replaced with a country-wide system; the window for moving cattle from TB restricted herds after their last negative TB skin test is reduced from 60 to 30 days; and the restocking of Officially TB Free status suspended herds is now only permitted after the first post-breakdown test and a satisfactory veterinary risk assessment.
The number of areas for annual TB testing is being extended to include Berks, Bucks, Cheshire, Derbyshire, East Sussex, Hants, Leicestershire, Northants, Notts and Oxfordshire. Two- and three- yearly testing is extended to four-yearly testing elsewhere in England, with enhanced surveillance around TB breakdowns.
Meanwhile, the Wales TB Eradication Plan 2013, which sets out eradication policies in the Principality, has received approval from the European Commission.
DEFRA published statistics last month which showed that new herd incidents of bovine TB in Great Britain from January to October 2012 totalled 4,188, up from 3,983 in the same period in 2011.
