Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that incidents of bovine TB in livestock are properly (a) monitored and (b) dealt with.

We know that experiencing a TB incident (or breakdown) in a cattle herd can be particularly stressful. To help cattle keepers in this situation, comprehensive guidance on how TB breakdowns are monitored and dealt with can be found on the TB Hub website: (https://tbhub.co.uk/advice-during-a-tb-breakdown/).

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) follow well-established protocols in all herds affected by a TB breakdown, working closely with the affected herd keeper to contain and eradicate the infection, enabling the herd to regain its Officially TB Free (OTF) status. Several steps are taken, including:

• Immediate application of herd movement restrictions. Only limited and controlled movements of TB-restricted cattle are permitted. Cattle from TB-restricted holdings can only move to slaughter and certain other limited destinations under a licence issued by APHA.
• All animals over 42 days old in the affected herd are tested at 60-day intervals (often using a more severe interpretation of the tuberculin skin test), until two consecutive test results are achieved.
• Supplementary interferon-gamma blood testing is used alongside the skin test in some TB breakdown herds.
• All TB test reactors (and, in some cases, non-reactor animals in direct contact with known infected cattle) are rapidly removed to designated slaughterhouses, triggering statutory compensation payments to the keeper. Alternatively, keepers can opt for private slaughter of their TB reactors if they prefer.