SCOTLAND has maintaineds its TB-free status despite a number of isolated cases which have sprung up in two areas of the country in the past 18 months

Kintyre has seen around 300 cattle culled following an outbreak, however, work is still underway to pinpoint the source of infection, with wildlife cleared of any part to play in proceedings.

A recent case in Castle Douglas led to 50 cattle being culled, but Scotland’s chief vet, Sheila Voas, has said she wanted to assure the farming industry that there is no cause for alarm: “Yes, there is an outbreak of TB which is being treated in the usual way – it’s slightly bigger than we normally get, but we’re not concerned, as it was picked up from routine surveillance.”

She added that they often slaughter more cattle than they have to in order to stop the bacterium spreading in to wildlife and setting up a source of infection.

“There is no threat to our TB status – it is just that the number of cattle infected is slightly bigger than usual, which is why it has attracted more attention,” she pointed out. “Officially, TB-free doesn’t mean no outbreaks – we are at a very low level compared to the number of herds we have.

“Every year we have a few small outbreaks and half of them we can identify the source quickly and the other half we rely on carrying out gene testing.”

Commenting on the situation in Kintyre, she added: “We believe cross reaction is going on in that region with other micro bacteria. TB is part of a family of micro bacteria and some live in the soil and are naturally occurring, while some live in wildlife and affect cats and other animals. There appears to be a cross reaction between these.”

When asked about the suspicions held in Kintyre regarding a local deer herd, she ruled out any wildlife implications: “We are testing religiously for sources and there is no evidence to implicate wildlife in any of these scenarios.

“When an outbreak is confirmed and we are able to run tests, we should be able to say where the source has come from. We are investigating this right now and as TB is a difficult bacterium to grow properly, it can take three months to do a culture and further results can take several weeks.”

She expressed her sympathy for the farmers who have lost livestock to the recent cases and insisted that they are working hard to make sure the ‘outbreaks are contained, cleared up quickly and that they don’t reoccur’.

NFUS livestock committee chairman, Jimmy Ireland, explained some of the checks which have been brought in to detect TB in cattle herds: “Scottish farmers and crofters take the threat of TB very seriously. We backed the introduction several years ago of pre- and post-movement testing of cattle from high risk areas and fully support the continuation of regular, routine herd testing.

“That robust approach saw Scotland become Officially TB-free (OTF). Unfortunately, OTF does not mean we are immune from breakdowns. They can vary in severity, but it is the low number of breakdowns, supported by on farm vigilance, that allows us to maintain OTF status.”