Organisations across the industry are encouraging cattle buyers to share details about the TB status of cattle they are selling and the herd they are selling from - and for buyers to act on the information.
The work follows on from the more general Risk-Based Trading push earlier in the year. The vast majority of breakdowns in low risk areas come from bought in cattle.
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Buying cattle in? Here's what you should ask for as a minimum
Date of the animal's last pre-movement TB test
Not all animals require pre-movement tests, but those which do should have been tested in the 60 days before their sale with negative results.
Date of the seller's last routine herd test
Knowing this date may offer additional reassurance if the herd has tested negative for TB recently; or it may prompt you to consider carrying out additional testing. If the last test was some time ago, you may wish to isolate the animal and ask your vet to conduct a post-movement test for additional reassurance.
It is possible that individual animals within batch sales were not on the holding at the time of the herd test, so other information such as the pre-movement test date (which is specific to an individual animal) will provide additional reassurance. Both of these dates are recorded on the test certificate (also known as the TB52).
It is also useful to ask how long an animal has been on the holding from which it is being sold and, if not homebred, find out about its previous locations. If you do not have your forms to hand, your vet should hold records of your testing history.
After purchase - protect your farm and your neighbours'
Once you have purchased your new animals there are additional measures that you can take to further reduce the risk of introducing TB into your herd and being put under movement restrictions (even if those animals have recently passed a TB test).
A negative pre-movement test does not guarantee that the animal will be free from TB - approximately 1 in 4 infected cattle may be missed by the tuberculin skin test.
1. Separation
TB can be spread between cattle. Keeping new animals separate from the main herd until they have tested negative for TB will reduce the opportunity for the spread of TB. This period of separation should last at least 60 days from the day of arrival into your holding.
2. Post-movement testing
Before you introduce any new animal to the rest of your herd, you should arrange for it to be post-movement tested to ensure that it has not developed TB since its last test. This can be arranged with your private vet.
It is recommended that this test is carried out 60 to 120 days after the animals left their previous holding or the market (i.e. at the end of the separation period mentioned above). Post-movement testing is strongly recommended for any cattle moving from an annual TB testing area of GB to a four-yearly testing area, where the animals are not going to be slaughtered within 120 days.
- Want to know more about bovine TB, the effect it has on thousands of farming families and the urgent need to control its spread? Visit the TB Free England website
NFU Policy
Every cattle farmer knows that the heart of a good business is healthy livestock.
Bringing new animals into the herd has the potential to introduce a variety of health problems and so knowing as much about the history of the cattle you intend to buy, including their disease status and previous vaccinations is vitally important.
This information is also a vitally important element of helping to stem the spread of bovine TB, where the history of TB issues within a herd can vary dramatically across geographical areas and even within statutory testing areas.
Understanding the previous breakdown history of a herd and how recently TB surveillance testing has been carried out in the herd are tools farmers can actively use in the fight against the spread of the disease.