Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of cattle and one of the biggest challenges facing the cattle farming industry today, particularly in the west and south west of England. It is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), which can also infect and cause TB in badgers, deer, goats, pigs, camelids (llamas and alcapas), dogs and cats, as well as many other mammals.

Latest news

• 19 January 2012: Pilot areas confirmed(news release)
  • Written Ministerial Statement (Parliament website, PDF)
• 28 December 2011: Bovine disease compensation payable during January 2012
• 14 December 2011: The Secretary of State announced the go ahead for controlled culling of badgers as part of the package of measures to tackle bovine TB. The approach will be piloted in two areas in 2012.
  • News release
  • Policy document: The Government’s policy on bovine TB and badger control in England
  • Guidance to Natural England: Licences to kill or take badgers for the purpose of preventing the spread of bovine TB
  • Responses to the consultation on Guidance to Natural England on the Implementation and Enforcement of a Badger Control Policy, launched on 19 July 2011
  • Impact Assessment
  • Ecological Impact Assessment
• 5 December 2011: Work has begun on a two-year national survey of badgers in England and Wales. This is a follow-up to the last national badger survey of Great Britain, which was completed in 1997.
• 30 November 2011: Bovine disease compensation payable during December 2011
• 30 August 2011: Bovine TB in badgers – Improving farm biosecurity video – A training video demonstrating practical on-farm biosecurity measures to reduce TB risks to cattle from wildlife was produced. A news release was also published.
• 19 July 2011: Government Bovine TB Eradication Programme for England sets out a comprehensive and balanced package of measures to tackle bovine TB
  • press notice
  • TB Eradication Programme document
• 4 July 2011: Key conclusions from a meeting held between Professor Bob Watson and scientific experts on 4th April 2011 (PDF 30KB)

The Government’s approach

The Government is committed to a comprehensive and balanced approach to tackling TB, with eradication as the long-term goal.

Cattle measures will remain central to the Government’s approach, which needs to be comprehensive, risk-based and staged.

• Controlling the disease – the government’s approach

Key facts and figures

• 5.4 Million – total number of TB tests on cattle in England in 2010.
• 25,000 – approximate number of cattle slaughtered for TB control in England in 2010.
• 3,622 – number of new TB incidents in 2010. This is a 7.5% increase on 2009
  (herds where at least one animal tests positive for bovine TB, when the herd had previously been TB free).
• 10.8% of cattle herds in England were under cattle movement restrictions at some point in 2010 due to a TB incident.
• 22.7% of cattle herds in the South-West were under cattle movement restrictions at some point in 2010.
• £500 million – the amount it has cost the taxpayer to control the disease in England in the last 10 years.
• £1 billion –  estimated cost of TB control in England over the next decade without taking further action.
• £30,000 – the average cost of a TB breakdown on a farm, of which around £10,000 falls to the farmer.

Further information – see Bovine TB statistics