The Department of Agriculture appears to be winning the fight to rid the national herd of bovine TB and Brucellosis, according to the latest figures.
The level of tuberculosis is measured by the number of cattle reacting per thousand tests (APT) and this fell last year.
The APT in 2001 was 3.6 as against 3.9 in 2000, and 4.2 in each of the preceding two years. The number of reactors in 2001 was 34,000 compared with about 45,000 in 1998 and 1999. '
The Department said there was some disruption to testing because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak last year, but that did not distort the figures as herds must now be tested once a year.
Additional measures, including increased actions to address wildlife, further research and an on-farm market valuation scheme, have been introduced in recent years to reduce the levels.
On brucellosis, the Department said that while significant progress was made in the initial stages of the eradication programme the disease was not fully eradicated and significant numbers of reactors were disclosed in the early 1990s. There was a further deterioration in the disease level from 1996 and a series of measures were introduced from 1997 to address the problem.