NFU Proposals for new plans to tackle Bovine TB
At the NFU's annual conference and AGM today, NFU President Sir Ben Gill called for the Krebs trials on bovine TB to be halted immediately, as the organisation launched a major scientific report on how it believes the disease should be tackled.
The report, prepared for the NFU by Sir Ben Gill and a specially commissioned scientific working group, urges the government to replace the trials with a new system of control strategies based on the intensity of disease in different areas of the country.
"It has become increasingly clear that the Krebs trials have not been properly implemented - although they have demonstrated the clear link between badgers and bovine TB - and we believe they should stop immediately," said Sir Ben.
"Given the dramatic increase in the incidents of the disease that have occurred in the last two years it is abundantly clear that the current situation cannot be allowed to continue.
"The suffering of cattle, wildlife and humans caught up in this saga has now reached a stage where drastic action is needed.
"We have examined what scientific evidence is currently available, and come to the conclusion that we need to evolve control strategies based on the intensity of disease in the country.
"We therefore recommend that the government should divide the country into three colour-coded areas - yellow, amber and red - based on the level of disease in different regions.
"Yellow will be made up of disease free areas and will require different protocols when there are sporadic outbreaks of the disease in order to prevent it spreading to the wildlife population.
"The amber area will be the focus of the strategic approach to contain the disease and drive it back to the disease centre - the red area - and ultimately extinguish the disease."
Sir Ben also called for an official and complete badger population survey to be carried out to help estimate the extent of the possible threat to the national cattle herd.
The report further urges that the government explore the potential benefits of the introduction of a cattle vaccination strategy within currently infected areas, or red zones.
