Fresh call for cull of TB-infected badgers

The call for tougher action against the wildlife pool of TB-diseased animals, make by Farmers For Action’s Steering Committee, comes at a time when farmers are facing the growing potential of other, equally devastating, diseases being imported into the country.

In England, a strain of avian influenza in a sheep has been discovered for the first time, highlighting the dangers the virus poses not just to poultry.

National Sheep Association chief executive Phil Stocker said though it was only a single sheep on a farm in Yorkshire, it should ring a warning bell for all farmers.

“What this shows is the importance of biosecurity and an understanding of what biosecurity means. In the sheep industry we often think the term just refers to buying in stock, but in this instance sheep and poultry have mixed on the same farm, resulting in the transmission of avian influenza.”

UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss urged all animal owners to ensure scrupulous cleanliness is in place and to report any signs of infection to the Animal Plant Health Agency immediately.

Further afield, three more cases of foot and mouth have been reported in Europe, this time on the Slovakian side of its border with Hungary.

Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other non-domestic ruminants and porcines such as deer and their untreated products, including fresh meat and dairy, have been banned from entering the UK from the foot and mouth affected countries of Slovakia, Hungary and Germany.

The FFA, meanwhile, is pointing to a 13 per cent increase in the number of bTB reactor cattle in Northern Ireland last year, which it said was putting family farmers and their families were under mounting stress.

The minister, who ordered a review of potential measures to combat the disease by the Chief Vet at the end of last year, is currently considering which additional measures to introduce.

According to the FFA, who has written to Mr Muir calling for badger cull, there were 20,510 TB skin test reactor animals in 2024, up by 2,360 animals compared to the 2023 figure and an 18 per cent increase on 2022, when there were 17,170 reactors.

The Newry Divisional Veterinary Office recorded the highest number of reactor animals at 3,430 followed by Enniskillen on 3,344. Both these areas, it noted, have large deer populations, another breed with the potential to spread TB to cattle.

FFA’s Sean McAuley said: “The automatic link with TB infected badgers spreading TB can no longer be dismissed and must be dealt with.

“Judging by the above statistics and the analysis of them, the TB incidents in cattle seems to rise alongside the increase of badger numbers, clearly evident by the increasing amount of road kill badgers.”