Farmers For Action (FFA) has requested a meeting with Northern Ireland’s chief veterinary officer as bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infection among cattle and wildlife reaches “an all time high”.
The group wants a meeting with Brian Dooher to discuss the infection rates following a seminar by bTB expert and vet Dick Sibley, which was organised by the Northern Ireland Pedigree Cattle Trust.
The meeting took place last night (Thursday, April 18), with Sean McAuley of the FFA stating that Sibley has almost “risked his reputation” to show that all bTB tests are needed in different ways to “assess what exactly is going on in individual herds of cattle”.
This could be transmission of bTB from mother to baby calf/calves through the cows milk; transmission from badgers; transmission from a number of super spreaders within the herd; transmission via faeces; or breath to breath transmission, McAuley said.
“Having had TB in recent years myself and every animal about the farm having to be slaughtered, it is not a good situation to be in and therefore have huge sympathy for family farmers caught up in this worsening situation,” he said.
“While Mr Sibley highlighted the deviousness of this disease in cattle and even its ability to cross species can never be underestimated.”
McAuley said there is now a situation where badgers must be considered as one method of two way transmission of bTB.
He said it is clear that “new thinking” is needed to wipe out bTB in Northern Ireland, and that FFA will ask Dooher: “What are we going to do about a cure for bTB infected animals that are still well enough to handle it alongside more progress with vaccines on-site?”
Badgers and bTB
Sibley, a vet with 47 years of experience, told the meeting in Armagh last night that focusing on badgers is not the correct approach to bTB.
According to Sibley, based on his experiences gained in the South West of England over recent years, badgers are not the primary source of tuberculosis infection in cattle.
He acknowledged that “large numbers of badgers were culled in the region”.
“However, bTB infection rates did not fall to any significant extent in response to this intervention,” Sibley stated.
He has likened the use of badger culling to help eradicate bTB as akin to “putting a plaster on a gaping wound”.
Sibley added: “We need to know more about the spread of bTB and how cattle react to the bacteria involved.
“Priority number one is preventing the spread of the disease. And this is not happening at the present time.”
