TB hotspot fears in east midlands
TB hotspot fears in east midlands
By FW reporters
FRESH outbreaks of tuberculosis in cattle have prompted fears that a new disease hotspot is gaining a grip on the east midlands.
One animal was slaughtered near Melton Mowbray on Monday (Apr 22). In the second outbreak, nine cattle with TB antibodies were slaughtered from a farm on the edge of Leicester. Cattle on contiguous premises are being examined and further tests may be conducted depending on livestock numbers around the outbreak farm.
NFU regional policy adviser Rob Pile said: "This is a worrying time for farmers. They have just come through the terrible times of foot-and-mouth and to be faced with bovine TB is bad news. There is a worrying trend in the increase in the number of cases across the country and these two cases in Leicester are of great concern to farmers."
The news came as farmers and auctioneers in Wales accused the media of inaccurately reporting and sensationalising bovine TB outbreaks. Some producers said they could not understand how the discovery of 10 reactors on a Denbighshire farm could be the lead item on national television and radio news bulletins.
NFU Cymru spokesman Keith Jones said: "Members are furious about the potential impact that yet another bout of over-the-top scaremongering could have on the food chain. There is a serious animal health problem that must be addressed, but there is absolutely no risk to consumers of beef or milk."
But the Farmers Union of Wales said media coverage had forced politicians to acknowledge the existence of a serious TB problem and was unlikely to cause a food scare. FUW spokesman Alan Morris said: "The explosion of public interest in TB could force them to grasp the nettle."
Conservationists accused the NFU and other unions of launching an aggressive media campaign for badger culling. Elaine King, chief executive of the National Federation of Badger Groups, said: "This has no basis in science or logic. Calling for badger culling is no better than calling for witch burning."
Dr King said the rise in TB should be attributed to F&M restrictions that kept cattle cooped up and amplified low levels of disease within herds. By calling for badger culling, farmers risked destroying the last vestiges of public sympathy and harming tourism by again making the countryside a no-go area. *