Documents seen by the Irish Farmers Journal reveal that a number of TB reactors were left on a farm for just over one month in 2010 due to an issue between Department of Agriculture employees over test certification.

Issues surrounding a TB test in early 2010 resulted in four reactors remaining isolated on the farm for over 30 days, far from the “rapid” removal of reactors cited by the Department in a 2012 document on quality control in the national bovine TB eradication programme.

The delay arose out of an internal dispute over veterinary certification between a Department vet and his superior.

According to a series of emails seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, the vet stated that due to a technical glitch on the Department’s Animal Health Computer System (AHCS), which records TB test results, he was a week late in uploading the results from his reading of the herd on 7 and 8 January 2010. The glitch meant he also felt he had to conflate the two readings he carried out into one, as the system would not allow him upload a two-part test.

Reactors are a source of worry for farmers and a source of disease that can spread to wildlife, even when they’re in isolation

His superior became aware of the uploaded test on 19 January and asked the vet the reason for the conflation of the two tests. After the vet explained the technical glitch, the supervisory vet replied the next day, expressing concern over the certification of the test.

In his reply, the vet further explained the technical glitch and pressed upon his superior the importance of certifying the test because there were “four reactor animals” in the herd, which was restricted at the time, and “25 doubtful animals open to severe interpretation”.

In an email dated 7 February 2010, 30 days after the reading of the herd for TB took place, the vet castigated his superior for allowing “reactor animals to remain on a farm four weeks longer than was necessary” and again asked him to certify the test.

“TB is a zoonosis [a disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals] – it causes spread of disease and financial loss to the farmer,” the vet wrote. “I believe that reactors should be removed from a farm ASAP.”

Tom Moran, then general secretary of the Department of Agriculture, and Martin Blake, current chief veterinary officer, were copied into this email. The vet claims he never received a reply from his superior, but the farmer in question, who wishes to remain anonymous, has confirmed the delay in getting the reactors off his farm to the Irish Farmers Journal. The farmer added that the reason the Department gave him for the delay was that they “couldn’t organise a lorry in time”.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands the reactors were eventually moved off the farm some time in early February.

Private vets have expressed concern at the amount of time it took to get these animals off the farm.

A vet told the Irish Farmers Journal that farmers should not be left in the dark over how long it will take for the Department to remove animals.

“Reactors are a source of worry for farmers and a source of disease that can spread to wildlife, even when they’re in isolation. The wildlife can then infect the rest of the herd,” the vet said. “They should not be left on a farm for that length of time.”

The Department of Agriculture declined to comment on the incident.