All cattle herds are classed as officially TB free (OTF) if their TB tests are up to date and there is no suspicion of TB infection. If TB is suspected, then cattle are put under restrictions and the OTF status is suspended.
A veterinary officer or inspector from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) will complete a disease investigation to:
assess the TB breakdown and its possible origin
implement control measures to prevent the spread to other herds
The documents explain in detail what happens if bovine TB is identified or suspected in a cattle herd. Theres information on:
Updated 'dealing with TB in your herd: what to do if bovine TB is detected in your herd in Wales'. The sections with changes are: If your herd has a TB breakdown; Officially TB free status suspended (OTFS); Officially TB free status withdrawn (OTFW); Post-mortem examination of reactor cattle; IRs identified in non-breakdown herds; Short interval tests; Interferon gamma and IDEXX antibody tests for M.bovis; Testing after the removal of restrictions; Movement to approved TB isolation units.
The guidance 'Dealing with TB in your herd: what to do if bovine TB is detected in your herd in Scotland' has been updated throughout. The PDF 'Dealing with TB in your herd: what happens if TB is identified in your herd (Scotland)' has been removed. It's been replaced with an accessible HTML attachment.
Updated Welsh language version of the Wales guidance.
Wales guidance updated. Changes to Wales policies on officially TB free status withdrawn (OTFW) and on inconclusive reactors (IRs) apply from 17 January 2022.
The PDF 'Dealing with TB in your herd: what happens if TB is identified in your herd (Wales)' has been replaced with the HTML document 'Dealing with TB in your herd: what to do if bovine TB is detected in your herd in Wales'.
Updated Wales document - compensation section
Wales documents updated in relation to OTFW Wales policy change due to come into force from the 1 January 2016.
PDF document on guidance for cattle keepers in England has been archived and link added to new guidance.
England - paragraph added about compensation for animals in AFUs and EFUs
