Parish Testing
Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive are committed to aligning TB testing intervals with EU legislation by carrying out a national review of TB testing intervals on an annual basis.
Parish testing intervals
The parish testing interval is the frequency of TB testing for premises in your parish and therefore generally for your herd. In certain circumstances however your herd testing frequency may be different to others in the parish. If so you will be advised accordingly.
Each year Animal Health advises herd owners of their new parish testing interval, which has been established by monitoring the level of TB in their area in the last 6 years (although see revised approach taken to the 2010 calculations outlined below).
Parish and herd testing intervals are the criteria by which herd owners are either eligible for or exempt from the new requirements for the pre--movement testing of cattle.
*Current Testing Intervals
* The testing intervals in the online search below only apply in England and Wales until 31st December 2009.
Find out your Parish Testing Interval Easily here with our online PTI search
Use our new online PTI search to find your Parish testing Interval or download the complete lists below.
Complete Testing Interval Lists from 18th August 2008 for *Wales and *England and from 1st September 2009 for Scotland
*Please note that the maps and the testing intervals stated in the lists for England and Wales only apply until 31st December 2009.The 2009 PTI Review has been carried out in Scotland only. Herd owners in Scotland have been informed of their new Herd and Parish Testing Intervals. The following lists and maps are the results of the 2008 review for England and Wales and the 2009 review for Scotland.
England ![[Click to download Adobe Acrobat Reader]](../../../graphics/furniture/pdf.gif){kind=small}
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Scotland (350 kb)
Wales (416 kb)
A GB map of the current parish testing intervals is available here:
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The Parish Testing Interval Review in England for 2010
A different approach is being applied to calculating parish testing intervals (PTIs) in England for 2010.
PTIs have traditionally been calculated using historical TB incidence figures which “follow” the spread of infection. For future testing arrangements, the Government has followed TB Eradication Group (TBEG) recommendations for a proactive approach to testing frequencies to be developed, which sets the TB testing intervals on the basis of the current disease picture. For 2010, an interim approach is being implemented that takes a significant step towards a more epidemiological and proactive risk-based assessment.
Please read the Question and Answer document for more details on England’s approach to PTIs in 2010.
The new PTIs will not come into effect until 1st January 2010 and Animal Health will be writing to each herd owner individually in November to confirm what their parish testing interval and herd testing interval will be. A map is available (see below), which demonstrates the approach being taken in 2010, but please note that the map is likely to change as Animal Health is still in the process of reviewing the proposed PTIs for 2010 and using local knowledge to make discretionary veterinary changes. This means that some parishes will have their parish testing interval increased (i.e. made more frequent).
A GB map of the parish testing intervals from 2010 is available here
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In Scotland in 2010
The 2009 PTI Review has been carried out in Scotland and, despite having recently achieved OTF regional status within the UK, routine 4-yearly testing will be retained for the time being in order to provide a minimum level of surveillance against sporadic TB incursions. Herd owners in Scotland have been informed of their new Herd and Parish Testing Intervals (see PTI search above under Current Testing Intervals).
In Wales in 2010
The Welsh Assembly Government has decided that all of Wales will require annual TB testing in 2010. Future testing frequencies from 2011 onwards will be decided following further analysis of the Health Check Wales results. The Welsh Assembly Government will not be returning to calculating testing frequency on a parish level. As a consequence of annual testing, all cattle keepers in Wales will have to comply with Pre-Movement Testing requirements on cattle movements from 1 January 2010.