TB – The Pembrokeshire Project
30/11/2025
In January 2024 we were approached by our vet to see if we would like to be involved in The Pembrokeshire Project for bovine TB. They were looking for 15 farms throughout Pembrokeshire to take part. Although we are farming on such a small scale, we have experienced first hand the problems facing farmers regarding TB and we were interested in finding out what this meant. The following is a summary of what we were told:
“This project aims to tackle deep-seated levels of TB infection in parts of Pembrokeshire, where bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) incidence and prevalence have worsened against the overall improving national backdrop. The project aims to facilitate collaborative working between vets and farmers and empowers local informed decision making and leadership in disease control. At the heart of the project is collaboration between a proactive vet and a proactive farmer working together to tackle bTB at a local level. The project is funded by Welsh Government and delivered by Iechyd Da and the Sêr Cymru Centre of Excellence for bovine TB (CBTB) at Aberystwyth University to integrate research and development with practical veterinary work to support and strengthen bTB control. The project gives freedom from external
control or influence by:
1. Using data analysis from existing bTB skin test results to identify high risk animals.
2. Voluntary culling of high risk animals.
3. Enhanced biosecurity on farms ”
We decided to go ahead as bovine TB is endemic in this area. The current methods used (skin test to try to detect disease and culling of infected animals) to eradicate it are not working and it was obvious a lot more research is needed.
All the measurements from every TB skin test are logged and analysed to try and identify any patterns of the disease – resulting in a traffic light system identifying cows that are high risk of having the disease and those that may go onto develop it. From a practical point of view this means we can identify suspect cows and review our management decision making. For example, we may no longer wish to breed from cows which may be in the red/amber or for those that also have other problems, e.g. mastitis, foot problems etc., we may decide to cull.
It has been an amazing experience, we have learnt so much, met so many interesting new people and it has hugely influenced the way we run our small herd of suckler Red Devons. Bovine TB is an incredibly complex disease and so much is still not known. The project has gone from strength to strength with some very eminent researchers involved and we really feel as though we have some sort of ‘voice’.
We are currently under restriction with 2 IR’s (inconclusive reactor), having already had to cull one reactor and another cow that was found to be IR on 2 consecutive tests. Gamma blood tests on these 2 current IRs did return negative, but we need two clear skin tests before the farm can return to “clear” status. Our next 60 day whole-herd test is early in December. Regardless of the result, these cows will not be sold on and we will cull them as soon as the time is right (they are both in-calf, due in April 2026). One of the main messages we have learnt from the last couple of years is that any cow that shows a reaction (in the form of a lump on the bovine site) is likely to have the disease in some form. The disease waxes and wanes, sometimes the skin test is sensitive enough to pick it up and sometimes not……once a cow is infected with TB it does not disappear.
A vaccine is in development and recent progress is looking promising. However, we are a best still some years from any practical national use. Some new tests have also been developed and these are being reviewed (e.g. Enferplex and IDEXX anti-body tests), but are not yet fully approved. We are considering trying to get government approval to test our whole herd using Enferplex. This is not a simple or straighforward process, particularly as we would want the flexibility to manage any positive-result animals out of the herd over a period of time, rather than the usual immediate cull.
bTB is not limited to cattle. It is found in wildlife (e.g. badgers, deer, wild boar). We do have plenty of badgers here and they are a protected species. As such our only defense against cross-infection is fencing (never very effective!) and vaccination of the badgers. We have been part of a badger vaccination programme (supported by Welsh Government) since 2022. This year, 6 badgers were caught, vaccinated and released. The aim is to reduce incidence of TB in the badgers, and reduce the risk of transmission. Research on this continues, but the initial studies indicate that vaccinating badger does seem to help with this.
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