TB In Cattle Up In February 2011

The February 2011 estimate for the incidence of TB in cattle was above the rate for the same month last year. New incidents were up 13% on January-February 2010. There was also an increase in the number of herds tested giving the provisional overall increase in TB incidence (new TB incidents as a proportion of tests on OTF herds) of 5.3%. The average incidence rate for herds from which the OTF status has been withdrawn was 3.6% (OTF-officially TB free).

There were a total of 8,098 tests on herds and 734,049 cattle tests resulting in 456 new herd incidents. There were 2,927 reactors and 21 direct contacts giving a total of 2,948 slaughtered cattle.

TB Incidence Fall In November 2010

There was a reduction in the incidence rate for TB in cattle in November 2010 over November 2009 but the figures are subject to further revision. New incidents increased by 2.3% between January and November 2010 compared with the same period in 2009. The provisional overall decrease over the period was 4.7% taking into consideration the increase in the number of herds tested. The average confirmed incidence rate was 4% in January - November 2010 compared with 4.3% for the same period in 2009.

A total of 8,196 tests were carried out on herds. The number of herds under movement restrictions was 3,655. There were at total of 6,759 tests carried out on unrestricted herds of which 518 were new herd incidents of which 271-333 were new confirmed incidents. The provisional number of tests carried out on unrestricted herds resulting in a confirmed new herd incident was between 4-4.9%.

The total number of animals involved was 808,176 cattle and 3,842 cattle were compulsorily slaughtered of which 3,782 were slaughtered as reactors and 60 as contacts.

Increase In Incidence Of TB In Cattle

There was an increase in the TB incidence rate for August 2010 compared with August 2009 but a high number of unclassified incidents may affect the interpretation of these provisional figures. A total of 390,812 tests were carried out on 4,613 herds resulting in the slaughter of 2,183 cattle. There were 2,107 reactors and 76 contacts, 283 of which were new herd incidents.

Fall In Cattle TB Incidence

There was a 5.4% decrease in the number of new TB incidences to July 2010 compared with July 2009. When the number is combined with the increase in the number of herd tests carried out over the same period there was a provisional overall decrease of 11%. The provisional confirmed incidence rate was down to 3.8% from 4.2% for the same period in 2009 at 240 new herd incidents (from 387).

The total number of tests carried out was 4,490. Tests on unrestricted herds totalled 3,171. The total number of cattle tested was 403,420 from 4,490 herds. The total number of cattle slaughtered in July was 2,507 of which 2,433 were reactors and 74 contacts.

Note Of Caution On Fall In TB Incidence

The provisional estimates of new TB incidence in cattle for March 2010 are 10% lower than they were in March 2009 according to Defra. The increase in the number of herds tested over the same period means that there was a provisional overall decrease in the TB incidence rate. There was also a fall in the provisional average confirmed incidence rate from 4% to 3.8% for the same period.

There were a total of 9,497 tests on herds. There were 3,909 restricted herds and tests on 8,083 unrestricted herds 515 of which were new herd indicents. The number of cattle tested for TB totalled 859,117 of which 3,027 reactors and 78 contacts had to be slaughtered totalling 3,105 cattle.

TB In Cattle In January

Defra released provisional data estimating incidence of TB in cattle for January 2010. The early results suggest that incidents for January 2010 are below those for January 2009 though care should be taken with the results until more tests are carried out because for example a high rate of unclassified incidents were included.

The provisional figures show that there was a 21% decrease of new TB incidents compared with last year. There was also a decrease in the number of herds tested over the same period giving an overall decrease of 15%. The provisional confirmed average indidence rate was 4% for January 2010 compared with 4.3% for January 2009. The confirmed average indidence rate is confirmed new TB incidents as a proportion of tests on unrestricted herds.

The number of tests on unrestricted herds was 6,069. There were 3,685 restricted herds and the total number of tests on herds was 7,410. There were 420 new herd incidents and 226-256 confirmed new incidents. The number of cattle tested in the 420 tests was 706,558 cattle. As a result of the tests 2,752 cattle were compulsorily slaughtered, 2,730 of which were reactors to the tuberculin test and 22 considered to have been in direct contact with TB infected cattle.

TB In Cattle Down At End Of 2009

Defra has released the estimeated TB in cattle statistics for December 2009 obtained from the Vetnet system. The key points are that the December estimate is below the incidence rate for December last year, the January provisional figures show a decrease of 8.8% in new incidents compared to last year and an increase in the number of herds tested giving an overall decrease of 14% in the TB incidence rate. The provisional average confirmed rate was down from 5% in 2008 to 4.3% for January to December 2009.

The total number of tests carried out in December was 485,671 cattle from 5,235 herds, 3,582 of which were on herds under movement restriction and 4,320 on unrestricted herds resulting in 280 new incidents and 168-196 new confirmed incidents. There was a 3.9-4.3% rate of tests carried out on unrestricted herds that resulted in a confirmed new herd incident. The total number of cattle compulsorily slaughtered in December 2009 was 1,914, 1,887 of which were reactors (confimed TB cases) and 27 contacts (cattle known to have been in contact with a reactor).