Recommendation to eradicate rather than control disease

A report on bovine tuberculosis (TB) by the Northern Ireland Assembly's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Committee has been welcomed.

The report, named Review into Bovine Tuberculosis, highlights the importance of the role of veterinary surgeons in delivering an effective TB eradication strategy.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and its local division that submitted evidence to the committee, the North of Ireland Veterinary Association (NIVA), particularly welcomed the following:

• The call for the government to have a specific target to eradicate TB, rather than just controlling the disease.
• The need to utilise the expertise of local veterinary practices in partnership with farmers.
• The focus on improving communication to ensure the limitations of the testing regime are understood well enough to make risk-based decisions.
• The need for DARD to carry out scoping work for the test, vaccinate or remove (TVR) policy to identify and address potential weaknesses in the model.
• The need for better understanding through detailed epidemiological studies to understand the risk factors and reinvigorated biosecurity training and advice.

BVA President Peter Jones said: "The committee has clearly recognised the value of the veterinary profession - both in research and on the ground - in bovine TB eradication. The recommendation that DARD commits to an eradication policy, rather than a control policy, makes a lot of sense and helps all stakeholders to look forward to the future."

Bert Allison, NIVA president, added: "We are pleased that the committee has taken on board many of the comments that we made in our written and oral submissions and that the final report has recognised the important role of private veterinary practitioners."