Bovine tuberculosis costs to the economy and trading standards role In this feature l endemic problem l bTB rules l local authority responsibility True cost of bTB Bovine tuberculosis is proving increasingly expensive for the UK economy, so what should a local authority inspector be doing to tackle it? A view by Stephanie Young W In recent years, there has perhaps not been the emphasis on enforcement that there ought to have been when it comes to bTB ith the continuing pressures on trading standards services today, it may be easy to overlook areas of work where there is a joint regulatory function between enforcement agencies. One of those areas is the control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), which is proving increasingly costly to the UK economy year on year. It is currently the most pressing and expensive animal health problem in England and Wales, and the financial impacts of the disease on rural businesses can be devastating, regardless of the prevalence of the disease in a local authority area. In 2015/2016, it cost more than 101m1 to control the disease in England alone a figure that is not sustainable. Controlling bTB is the joint responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and local authorities (LAs), and there is often a lack of clarity about the different regulators responsibilities for managing the disease. an endemic problem bTB, like foot and mouth, is a notifiable disease under the Animal Health Act 1981; however, because it is endemic in the UK, the control strategy is different. In recent years, there has perhaps not been the emphasis on enforcement that there ought to have been when it comes to bTB, possibly because of a lack of understanding about who between LAs/ Defra and the APHA has responsibility for what. In addition, unlike other notifiable diseases, the impact of bTB on the local and national economy is not always evident. The strategy for achieving Officially Bovine TB-Free (OTF) status for England, published in April 2014, sets out how the government will work with industry to eradicate the disease. However, to achieve this, it recognises the importance of Defra, APHA and LAs working in partnership to deliver and enforce bTB controls another reason why clarity of roles is so important. Because of the endemic nature of bTB, it is important that the focus of enforcement is on surveillance, as well as disease control, and that there is compliance in both of these areas. It is crucial that high levels of farmer compliance with bTB controls are maintained, and that the small minority of farmers who contravene or ignore disease-control rules, jeopardise their own WHat IS btB? business, and undermine the efforts of others, Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious are subject to appropriate enforcement action. disease of cattle caused by the bacterium Coupled with the high and rising annual mycobacterium bovis. Control is difficult for spend to control the disease, a small number several reasons, including: the ability of the of cases of fraudulent activity within the UK bacteria to hide in the immune system of farming industry have been identified. Some the host; the limited sensitivity of available businesses have interfered with the bTB tests diagnostic tests; and because the pathogen deliberately to make a gain for themselves and occurs in wildlife, such as badgers. benefit from the public purse by dishonestly Risk factors will vary from region to region claiming significant amounts of compensation and, as a result, there is no universal solution to for culled animals that were not legitimate reducing the risk of a TB breakdown. Mycobacterium bovis was first isolated reactors to the surveillance test for bTB.2 from badgers in England in 1971, during an Interference with the bTB test not only investigation into an outbreak of bTB in cattle in has a major impact on the local and national Gloucestershire. Since then, infected badgers economy, but also skews the national have been found throughout South West figure on the prevalence of the disease and England and parts of Wales, and are considered undermines the control strategy within the to be a source of TB infection for cattle. UK. This has raised the national profile of bTB Source: www.tbhub.co.uk and the need for good, effective enforcement. Where significant, damaging and deliberate breaches of bTB controls have been identified, the government encourages and supports robust enforcement action byLAs. With any bTB complaint, offences committed can be wide ranging and may not exclusively relate to the Animal Health Act 1981. Depending on the nature of the investigation, consideration must be given to offences under the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007, the Fraud Act 2006 and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008. Because of the endemic nature of bTB, it is important that the focus of enforcement is on surveillance, as well as disease control the future Interference with the bTB test not only has a major impact on the local and national economy, but also skews the national prevalence figure and undermines the control strategy The Tuberculosis Compliance and Enforcement Group (TBCEG) has been established recently, to look at the complex area of enforcing bTB rules and the options available for dealing with non-compliance by the industry. The group has representatives from England and Wales, with members participating from LAs, the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers (ACTSO), Defra, APHA, the Welsh government, the Welsh Local Government Association and the Local Government Association in England. The purpose of the steering group is to offer technical and operational policy support to LAs in England and Wales, by sharing good practice and expert advice on bTB compliance and enforcement. The group will advise Defra and the Welsh government on compliance and enforcement, and liaise with the National Animal Health and Welfare Panel as appropriate. An initial outcome from TBCEG has been the production of spreadsheets containing county-level data on the costs of compensation and control of bTB for England and Wales. These have been posted on the Knowledge Hub and circulated to heads of service via ACTSO. These figures have been supplied by Defra/APHA and highlight the significant amount of money that is being spent on an annual basis to control the spread of bTB. In accordance with the provisions of the Animal Health Act 1981 and the relevant orders relating to bTB, the enforcement of the bTB rules is a local authority responsibility. As such, LAs may wish to consider the impact of the disease on the local economy the same as any other notifiable disease as part of any locally held business plans. Footnotes 1 Freedom of Information request: answers to 11 questions posed about bovine tuberculosis and published in November 2016. 2. A legitimate reactor is an animal that has shown a significant response to the tuberculin skin test. If one or more reactors are found in a herd, the herd has a TBbreakdown. Some reactors may have only been exposed to bovine TB; some may be infected; and some of these may be infectious to other animals. All these groups of animals will give a significant response to the skin test.Some may spread the disease further and some may not. It is not possible to distinguish between them so they are all removed in the control of the disease, as they are a risk. Credits Stephanie Young is principal trading To share this page, in the toolbar click on You might also like Nose in the trough October 2014 standards officer animal health at TS Review, May 2015, Damage control, Staffordshire County Council. page 33 Images: iStock.com / franckreporter