Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir has welcomed funding of £4 million for research on bovine tuberculosis (TB).
The allocation from the Transformation Fund for the public sector is for a cross-border research project.
This bovine TB research is the first regionalised project of its kind to tackle the disease with a holistic package of measures centred around wildlife, cattle and people, DAERA said.
Operating in the Derry City and Strabane region in Northern Ireland and north-east Donegal in the republic, it has already secured around €6.5 million from the Irish government’s Shared Island Initiative.
Measures
The project will focus on a range of measures implemented on a co-ordinated regional basis, to support the reduction of bovine TB incidence and transmission.
The approach will include implementing and monitoring interventions simultaneously across wildlife, cattle and people.
In terms of wildlife, it will work towards reducing bovine TB infection levels in local badger population through a test and vaccinate or remove approach – subject to statutory licensing approvals.
This involves capturing badgers, testing them for bovine TB, vaccinating those that test negative and removing those that test positive.
In terms of cattle, enhanced testing including enhanced use of interferon gamma blood testing in breakdown herds, piloting the use of six-monthly skin testing of cattle and enhanced herd breeding management through genotyping analysis.
The project will also focus on enhanced biosecurity through private veterinary practitioner led on-farm advice, and establishment of regional eradication partnership groups with local farmers.
Tackling TB
Minister Andrew Muir said: “The allocation of funding, in addition to the funding already committed by the Irish government under the Shared Island Initiative, is very welcome.
“International experience has shown that no country has been successful in substantially reducing or eradicating bovine TB without the progression of a regionalisation approach.
“Up until now such an approach for tackling bovine TB has not yet been tried on the island of Ireland.
“Successful completion of this project will help develop further evidence on which to base future deployment of measures within the wider bovine TB programme.”
Successful delivery of the project is dependent on high levels of stakeholder engagement, DAERA said.
Around 96% of local farmers in the area have already granted permission for DAERA to carry out a badger sett survey on their land, which commenced in January.