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Bovine TB: ‘Fundamental change’ needed in approach

He added that bovine TB needed “to be made visible again as the infectious, zoonotic, potentially fatal disease that it is with clear economic impacts”.

But his review is not a final decision on the way forward.

The disease has cost the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) £55.7m in the year 2023/24.

Almost two-thirds of that total, £36.5m, was paid in compensation to farmers for the removal of animals.

The cumulative cost of the bovine TB programme in the last 20 years is about £750m.

The chief veterinary officer warned that, given the current trajectory, spend on the programme alone may be expected to exceed £1bn over the next 15 years.

Mr Muir told the committee that it was his hope the report marked a “turning point”, saying “the status quo is not an option”.

In October 2023, a court rescinded an order by the former minister Edwin Poots for a wildlife cull of badgers.


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