Some 36,043 cattle were removed from the national herd after bovine TB testing in the 12 months up to the beginning of September, as increased levels of the disease over recent years show no signs of slowing, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.

The equivalent figure for the same stage in 2023 was 26,132 cattle, which was an increase of around 5,000 head for the same point in the two previous years.

This equates to an increase of 38% in reactor numbers over the 12-month period, and a 70% rise over a 24-month timeframe.

The figures come as the Department confirmed that it anticipates that reactor numbers “will reach approximately 40,000” by the end of 2024.

Herd incidence, which is the proportion of new herds that went down with TB over a 12-month period having previously been free, has passed 5.52% for the first time in over 15 years.

This had stood at 4.73% at the end of September 2023 and 4.12% one year previous.

A Department spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that the increasing levels of bovine TB in cattle is related to a “number of factors other than wildlife which contribute to the spread of TB – including residual infection in herds and the movement of cattle”.

The spokesperson claims that the Department “continues to put significant and increasing resources into its wildlife programme” citing an approximate 90% increase in expenditure on the wildlife programme between 2019 and 2023.

The number of contracted staff deployed to the wildlife programme rose from 115 in 2018 to 156 this year.

Badgers

However, the number of badgers culled by the wildlife programme has remained largely static while the number of badgers vaccinated against the disease continues to rise.

Some 5,462 of the 14,524 badgers caught last year were culled, but this figure was broadly similar to the number culled in 2019 when only 7,190 were caught in total.

“The Department continues to maximise resources in all areas of the TB programme to focus on taking all necessary steps to reduce the current levels of disease,” the spokesperson added.