The Animal Plant Health Agency is to begin using a new PCR test on tissue samples collected at post mortem to detect the bacterium that causes bovine TB.

This will be used in 'prescribed scenarios' such as for slaughterhouse cases in cattle found to have suspicious lesions, and for all post mortems of non-bovine animals which have been compulsorily slaughtered for suspicion of TB.

An advantage of this test is that it will take only three weeks to get a test result, meaning that movement restrictions can be lifted much more quickly if it proves negative. Farmers will not need apply for this to take place – it will be undertaken as standard procedure in applicable scenarios.

English NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw welcomed the move: “This is an encouraging announcement and is something the NFU has been asking Defra and APHA to develop and introduce over many years.

“The impact of bovine TB on farming families is enormous and these new developments can help to reduce the uncertainty and strain it places on farmers by significantly reducing the time waiting for a test result. The benefits will also enhance the control of bovine TB by enabling both government and industry to detect disease much earlier.

“We hope to see the use of this test extended across Defra’s bovine TB eradication strategy in due course, as part of an effective and evidence-based TB eradication strategy.”

Although Scotland achieved Officially TB Free Status in September 2009, this does not mean that the disease has been eradicated entirely, but recognises that the country has relatively few cases and is below the threshold for that designation.