Bovine TB: Are you a farmer?
If so, you may find the following information useful:
Implications of recent Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks for bovine TB (bTB).
The TB (England) Order 2007 remains in effect. Therefore where cattle movements are permitted under FMD controls, TB testing requirements will apply as usual. This means zero tolerance will be applied to herds with overdue TB tests and cattle must be pre-movement tested as usual.
Pre-movement testing rules require all cattle over 42 days old moving out of a one or two yearly TB tested herd to have had a negative TB test within 60 days prior to movement. This includes movements to and from both grass keep and linked holdings.
All pre-movement tests must be arranged and paid for by the herd owner and are valid for 60 days from the day of injection of tuberculin. Routine bTB surveillance tests paid for by the Government qualify as pre-movement tests, if animals are moved within 60 days after the test. Herd owners can ask for additional animals to be included in their routine test if they wish to move those animals within 60 days of that test. Please contact your vet at your earliest opportunity to book your TB test.
Defra has produced a questions and answers document addressing the implications of the recent FMD outbreaks for bovine TB. For further information please see the FMD pages of this website.
Pre-movement testing
In December 2005, Defra announced the introduction of pre-movement testing of cattle in England. This was introduced on 27 March 2006 to help reduce the risk of spreading bovine TB between herds and to areas free from the disease.
The guidance booklet 'TB in Cattle - Reducing
the Risk: Pre and Post movement testing in Great Britain' 
(267 KB) sets
out how to meet the statutory TB testing requirements when moving
cattle in England, Wales and Scotland. If you want to find out the TB parish testing interval (PTI) for your part of the country, a complete list and map of all PTIs in Great Britain are available on Animal Health website.
Further information on pre-movement
testing is available here.
Dealing with a bovine TB breakdown
If you have a bTB breakdown in your herd, your first contact should be your local Animal Health Divisional Office (AHDO).
When you report a bTB breakdown you will receive a copy
of Dealing with TB in your herd (306 KB), which is designed to help you understand your TB restrictions
and provide some general background information on the disease. A Welsh
version 
(281 KB) is also available.
Protecting your herd from bovine TB
You should try to prevent contact between your cattle and those on neighbouring farms, and between your cattle and local wildlife. You should also ensure as best you can that cattle coming on to your farm are healthy. Further information is available on how to protect your herd from bTB and Defra advice leaflets are available on our TB publications page.
If you have any queries, please try one of the following:
- To discuss queries with a bTB vet, contact your local AHDO.
- For general queries, contact the Defra Helpline.
- For advice on Defra’s bTB policy, contact the TB Communications Unit.
Page last modified:
May 23, 2008