Minister Heydon announces important update on Bovine TB Action Plan

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, has today written to all herdowners advising them of important updates to the Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) eradication programme as part of the implementation of the Bovine TB Action Plan: Addressing Bovine TB in Ireland published last year.

The Minister said:

Minister Heydon stated:

The Minister advised farmers to scan the QR code on the leaflet they receive or visit www.bovinetb.ie to keep up to date with these changes and to access further information on the bTB programme.

Note for Editors:

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine published the Bovine TB Action Plan Addressing Bovine TB in Ireland on 9 September 2025. This plan includes 5 measures and 30 actions to address and over time reduce the current high disease levels as follows:

1. Support herds free of bTB to remain free
2. Reduce the impact of wildlife on the spread of bTB
3. Detect and eliminate bTB infection as early as possible in herds with a bTB breakdown and avoid a future breakdown
4. Help farmers improve all areas of on-farm biosecurity
5. Reduce the impact of known high-risk animals in spreading bTB

These measures are targeting both transmission between wildlife and cattle and transmission between cattle where the disease risk is highest in order to meaningfully reduce disease levels.

From 13th April the following changes to bTB testing and movement requirements will come into effect:

Changes to bTB testing requirements

Post-movement test

• All cows and males over 36 months - post movement test no longer allowed.

Pre-movement test

• Suckler cows and males over 36 months - no change to current testing requirements.
• Dairy cows moving into a non-breeding herd - no change to current testing requirements.
• Dairy cows moving into a breeding herd - a 30 day pre-movement test required.
• Contract-reared heifers before return to herd of origin – a 30 day premovement test required.
• Contract-reared heifers - Calves/heifers greater than 42 days moving to a herd where animals from multiple herds are contract reared - 30 day pre-movement test before moving to contract rearer is required.

Gamma Interferon Test (GIF Test)

• Mandatory in breeding herds of 80 cows or more where 5% of the exposed cohort test positive or where there are 10 reactors in the exposed cohort, whichever is the lesser. GIF tests will be paid for by the Department.

Relapse High Risk (H) herds

• If a herd breaks down with 3 or more reactors and the breakdown includes a reactor who was present at the time of a previous TB breakdown in the same herd, and in the same group of animals with 3 or more reactors, the herd will be tested every 6 months for 3 years post derestriction.

Changes to animal movements

• Cows that were part of an exposed cohort in herds greater than 80 cows that were GIF tested may not be sold for 2 years after removal of last reactor except to slaughter or Controlled Finishing Unit (CFU).

Definitions

High-risk (H) breakdown: 3 or more skin reactors in the one breakdown.

Exposed cohort are animals who have tested negative to a bTB test but are or were in the same management group as reactor animals at the time of breakdown. For example, an outbreak in dairy cows on a dairy farm, the exposed cohort is the cows in the milking cow group at the time of the outbreak. The exposed cohort would exclude replacement heifers or calves present at the breakdown test if there were no reactors in those groups of animals.

Relapse H herd is a herd with 3 or more reactors in a breakdown where there are reactors present in the same exposed cohort that were previously in a H breakdown in that herd, and at least 1 of the reactors at the relapse breakdown was present as part of the exposed cohort in the previous H breakdown

More information on the Action Plan can be found at: www.bovinetb.ie