PROGRESS was reported yesterday in talks involving farmers, vets and the Department of Agriculture and Food on finding a way to tackle the growing incidence of brucellosis in cattle. The animal health forum held a special session to discuss how to deal with the problem.
There have been 244 new out-breaks of the disease, which causes abortion in cows and heifers, in the first five months of this year, mainly in the five Munster counties of Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Kerry and Clare.
Following a two-hour meeting yesterday when a new eradication plan was put forward by the farm organisations, there was agreement to meet again on Thursday.
Farmers have been seeking to have a voluntary pre-movement test for breeding cattle which will be sold in special catalogues at livestock mart auctions under the Department of Agriculture control. They also proposed that animals should be allowed to be sold only once under each 60-day brucellosis pre-movement test.
A spokesman for the Department said last night that agreement on an eradication plan was almost complete. He said central to the new plan will be the grant scheme whereby farmers who undertake pre-movement testing will be rewarded by higher compensation should animals fail.
He added that approved Department sales of pretested animals will also form part of the solution, as will a special information and education packages for farmers.
The veterinary organisations have claimed that the ending of the mandatory pre-movement test for brucellosis has helped spread the disease and that Ireland could lose its official brucellosis-free status as a result.