National Statistics on the Incidence of TB in Cattle

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Thursday, June 19, 2008

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National Statistics on the Incidence of TB in Cattle

UK - Provisional figures for the incidents of TB in cattle in the UK for March show a rise on the March 2007 figures.

However, the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says that care needs to be taken not to read too much into a single month's figures as there statistic includes a large number of unclassified incidents.

The figures, which were released by Defra this week and obtained from the Animal Health's work management IT support system (Vetnet), which is used for the administration of TB testing, are likely to be adjusted in the future.

However, the provisional National Statistics on the Incidence of TB in Cattle in Great Britain for the first quarter of the year show a 5.9 per cent increase in the number of new TB incidents compared to January to March 2007.

Defra says that as the number of herds tested has fallen over the same period, this brings the provisional incidence rate up to a 17 per cent increase.

The average confirmed incidence rate (confirmed new TB incidents, as a proportion of tests on unrestricted herds) was 4.6 per cent for January - March 2008, compared to 3.3 per cent for the same period in 2007.

Defra says the figures are designed to give a snapshot of the position concerning TB across the country.

Percentage of tests on unrestricted herds resulting in a confirmed new incident
(from 2003)