The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) has called on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to introduce a new post-mortem test to identify bovine tuberculosis (TB) on a trial basis.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) recently announced that the new test to identify infection quicker in animals after slaughter has been rolled out in Great Britain.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test can detect the bacterium responsible for bovine TB directly from tissue samples collected at post-mortem inspection
It is believed that the test will cut waiting times for results down to just three weeks.
IBLA has now called on Minister Charlie McConalogue, along with his veterinary and technical staff, to immediately introduce the test on a trial basis in conjunction with existing practices.
“Such protocols have already been introduced in Britain on post slaughter carcass checks.
“This new approach and advance in science must be adopted as a priority by the DAFM [Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine] to help alleviate the burden on Irish farmers with suspect lesions at meat factory level.
“The rapid turn around in results is key to removing restrictions on TB restricted holdings,” the group stated.
IBLA claimed that DAFM has PCR testing capacity with equipment available in the Backweston campus in Co. Kildare and in the regional veterinary laboratories.
“It is science-based and will benefit the entire agri-food industry, but most of all the farmer,” IBLA concluded.