Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Bovine TB control places significant costs and disruption on farmers, vets, and rural communities, particularly those in areas with high incidence rates. Defra commissioned research published in 2020 outlines the economic costs of TB breakdowns on wide range of farm types. Estimating the economic cost of bovine TB incidents on cattle farmers in the High Risk and Edge Areas of England and Wales - SE3139 The department uses these estimates when evaluating current policies and when calculating the effect of eradicating bovine TB on productivity in the farming industry. The Department’s economic analysis indicates that cattle culling associated with bovine TB breakdowns imposes significant indirect costs on farmers, including movement restrictions, additional labour, production losses and cashflow impacts, with average costs estimated at around £9,000 (median) to £33,000 (mean) per breakdown.

The analysis also shows that new approaches set out in the recently published recommended bovine TB control strategy for England, including wider roll-out of more sensitive gamma interferon testing, can help reduce both the number and duration of breakdowns, thereby lowering the overall economic impact on farmers over time, particularly in high-incidence areas.