During a recent Teagasc webinar on bovine TB, he said there were 42,000 reactors in 2024 and 38,500 in 2025. He said skin test detections had not kept pace with the increasing background level of bovine TB, and the breakdown size increased. Dr Barrett said: “It was kind of unfortunate that we had our lowest levels of TB, as quotas were abolished. The DAFM recognised that its existing approach to TB eradication was not working effectively, hence the full introduction in April of all of the proposed measures in the new eradication plan. High-risk herds that suffer relapse will face six-monthly TB testing for up to three years.

Source: Irish Examiner February 11, 2026 18:39 UTC