September 8, 2005

Ireland sees significant fall in cattle brucellosis levels

The Irish government has expressed satisfaction that cattle brucellosis levels within the country had significantly fallen.

Brucellosis is a highly contagious disease that affects animals such as sheep, goats and cattle.

According to the government, heads of cattle testing positive for brucellosis had fallen significantly from 6,417 in 1998 to 664 in 2004. For this year's first half, only 12 herds were depopulated compared with 44 during the same period in 2004. Heads of animals removed as brucellosis reactors from January to June this year totalled about 922 compared with 4,004 during the same period last year.

The government attributed the progress to factors such as continued cooperation from all involved in the disease eradication system, stricter checks on illegal cattle movements through the Cattle Movement Monitoring System, and penalties for non-compliance with animal disease and identification regulations.

Meanwhile, the government also stressed the importance of continued measures against the disease. This included full herd and pre-movement testing, blood sampling at slaughter plants, more effective diagnostic measures and rapid depopulations of infected farms.