Annual bovine TB herd incidence in NI hit a record high in March 2023 at 10.80%, up from the 10.65% reported in February 2023.

Herd incidence, which measures the number of new breakdowns out of all herds tested, has been increasing steadily since mid-2020.

Across the first three months of 2023 a total of 1,131 herds have had at least one reactor at a test, with 609 of these herds recorded as new breakdowns, up 27% on the same period in 2022.

In total from January to March 2023 there has been 4,480 reactors at TB tests, up 29% on the 3,472 cattle taken in the first three months of 2022.

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