DairyCo

TB Data

Published 24 June 10

TB Data

Note: Statistics below are for all cattle slaughtered due to TB not just dairy cattle. However, it is estimated that approximately 54.5% of TB slaughtering are dairy cattle.

• Provisional figures for March show that 3,105 cattle were slaughtered due to TB, 941 (23.3%) fewer when compared with March 2009.
• Based on the assumption that 54.5% of all cattle slaughtered due to TB were dairy, this would equate to 1,692 dairy cattle slaughtered in March.
• In the first quarter of the year, 9,023 cattle were slaughtered, 2,949 (24.6%) fewer than in the first quarter of 2009.

The latest provisional TB statistics for March show that 3,105 cattle were slaughtered during the month as a result of the disease. This was 941 fewer when compared to the level in March 2009, equivalent to a fall of 23.3%.

Despite the number of cattle being slaughtered due to TB falling year on year, the number slaughtered in the first quarter of 2010 is over 3.5 times higher than the 2,508 slaughtered during the first quarter of 2000.

Estimates from Defra suggest that 54.5% of all cattle slaughtered due to TB are dairy, which suggests that 1,692 of the cattle slaughtered due to TB in March, and 4,918 in the first quarter of 2010, were dairy animals.  

Current provisional figures show a fall of 9.1% in the number of cattle slaughtered due to TB in 2009 when compared to 2008. However, the size of the UK dairy herd fell by 2.7% between 2008 and 2009 and therefore the estimated percentage of the dairy herd slaughtered due to TB (based on 54.5% of slaughterings being dairy) has only fallen from 1.1% to 1.0%. For more information on dairy herd size click here.  

The number of TB tests carried out in the last ten years has more than doubled, while the percentage of animals tested that are slaughtered has risen from 0.2% in 1999 to 0.5% in 2009.

Source: Defra

Annual TB Tests and Slaughterings

*Provisional

Source:Defra