TB strategy ‘under threat’ from lack of resources

A lack of resources threatens to thwart government plans to halt the march of bovine tuberculosis across England, farm leaders have warned.
Due to come into effect on 1 January, measures contained in the government’s “edge strategy” aim to stop bovine TB from spreading from disease hotspot areas in south-west England and the West Midlands to neighbouring counties where confirmed cases are much lower.
Strict measures aimed at limiting the spread of TB to edge counties include stricter rules on TB testing. But industry leaders are concerned that it will be hard for DEFRA’s Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) to keep on top of the new testing regime.
Interferon gamma blood testing will be rolled out to the whole of the edge area to supplement the skin test in TB breakdown herds from 1 January. This will be compulsory for herds whose officially TB-free (OTF) status is withdrawn and discretionary for herds with OTF status suspended.
Veterinary assessments of herd will be undertaken by the AHVLA. In addition, the agency will collate field epidemiology reports on a regular basis to assess TB locally and help develop local approaches to tackling the disease.
NFU vice-president Adam Quinney said the AHVLA was already finding it difficult to keep [up with TB testing]. “There are lots of concerns – not just about the AHVLA – but about local veterinary practices too. They are already stretched and finding it difficult to keep up.”
“There are lots of concerns – not just about the AHVLA – but about local veterinary practices too. They are already stretched and finding it difficult to keep up.”
“NFU vice-president Adam Quinney
Counties in the edge area include Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire, as well as parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and East Sussex.
Cheshire dairy farmer Phil Latham said farmers in his county were already waiting 30 days for TB tests. The strategy risked failure unless it had enough resources to ensure was implemented in a thorough and timely fashion, he added.
“We want the edge strategy to work,” said Mr Latham. “But there don’t seem to be any clearly stated targets or goals to ensure that it is a success. We need more transparency – the last thing we want is for people to blame farmers if the policy fails due to a lack of resources.
An AHVLA spokesman insisted the agency would be able to carry out additional TB tests. He said: “We have recently increased resourcing levels for gamma interferon testing to meet the predicted increase in submissions when the new TB measures are introduced in January.”
Where applicable, gamma interferon blood sampling was done as soon as possible after disease was confirmed in a herd – and before, or at the same time as, the first short interval skin test at 60 days, said the spokesman. But the exact timing was dependent on a number of factors.
These included the veterinary risk assessment and practical constraints such as gathering the herd in question between the two skin tests. Sampling and submission for this test could also be temperature and weather dependent, the spokesman said.
DEFRA targets bovine TB in ‘edge area’