The NFU has repeated its call for the Government to take immediate steps to organise a cull of diseased badgers, after a second consecutive month in which the number of new outbreaks of bovine tuberculosis was higher than in the same month in 2005.
Figures released by Defra show that there were 306 new outbreaks of TB in October this year, compared with 277 in October 2005. That takes the total number of new outbreaks for the past six months to 1,526 - almost 13 per cent higher than in the same period in 2005.
NFU Deputy President Meurig Raymond said that, even though more cattle were being tested than a year ago, the figures still provided worrying confirmation that the threat from TB remained undiminished.
“However much Government Ministers might like to wish this problem away, their own figures show that it is still very much with us”, he said.
“Determined action is what is needed to get to grips with TB, whereas what we are getting is a mixture of prevarication and wishful thinking.
“It is now quite clear that the apparent decline by which Ministers set such store in the early part of the year was just a blip. That being the case, they cannot afford to wait any longer to engage in detailed discussions with the industry on how to design and prosecute a cull of diseased badgers, starting in the worst hotspot areas.”
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