Owen Paterson aims to stamp out disease by 2038

A plan to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in England within 25 years has been announced by environment secretary Owen Paterson.

Last year, 28,000 cattle were slaughtered due to bTB. New strategies aim to stop the spread of the disease into unaffected areas, and to control and eradicate it from areas where it is established.

The action plan will draw on the success of eradication programmes used in Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the USA.

According to a statement from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), action will be taken across several areas.

These include disease surveillance, tracing of possible sources of infection, pre- and post-movement cattle testing and the removal of cattle exposed to bTB.

Furthermore, decisions will be made on whether or not to further roll-out badger culling and steps will be taken to allow the use of a bTB cattle vaccination, as well as deploying an oral badger vaccination.

It is also hoped that the development of new diagnostic tests could improve methods of tackling the disease.

Defra will also be working to introduce risk-based trading to help farmers make decisions about the cattle they purchase.

Risk information will be supplied to the farmer at the point of sale, including movement and testing history to inform their decisions on buying cattle.

Commenting, British Veterinary Association (BVA) president, Peter Jones, said: “We have long argued that there is no single measure that can effectively tackle bovine TB on its own, and so we are delighted that this strategy looks at the bigger picture and draws together all of the available tools in the toolbox."

Click here to view Defra's action timeline.