Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 3 Oct 2001

Vol. 541 No. 2

Written Answers. - Bovine Diseases.

Michael Ring

Ceist:

306 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of outbreaks of tuberculosis in the years 1998-1999, 1999-2000 and 2000-2001; the number of cases which occurred in County Mayo for those periods; if there has been an increase in the number of cases; the plans he has to deal with the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21422/01]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh):

The following sets out the information requested:

Year	National Total of TB Reactor Animals	Number of TB Reactor Animals in County Mayo
1998	44,988	825
1999	44,903	1,025
2000	39,847	1,245

While the bovine tuberculosis eradication programme operated by my Department is extremely comprehensive, I have to accept that progress towards final eradication has been disappointing. However, as the above statistics indicate there has been a reduction in the number of TB reactors in the country by about 4,000 in the year 2000 and I anticipate a similar reduction in 2001. While there has been an increase in the number of reactors in County Mayo it still remains one of the counties with the lowest number of reactors in the country.

The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness contains a number of measures with the objective of reducing current levels of and ultimately eradicating TB from the national herd. Among the measures provided for is the allocation of specified staff resources in each district veterinary office (DVO) to carry out investigative work into the causes of herd breakdowns. In addition to current arrangements relating to wildlife, a pro-active approach is being undertaken in each DVO area using dedicated departmental and farm relief service personnel to the removal of all sources of infection in the 20% of the country that yields some 50% of current TB reactors.

Also a research programme involving disciplines in zoology, microbiology, immunology and pathology is in place. A wildlife removal project and a vaccine development project are among the scientific work being carried out. The veterinary epidemiology and tuberculosis investigation unit, based in the veterinary college, investigates the factors which militate against the eradication of tuberculosis in cattle at the national or regional levels, and identifies means of improving the present rate of eradication.