TB in Dairy Herds
Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of cattle. It is caused primarily by a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). M. bovis can also infect and cause disease in many other species most notably badgers, deer, cats, dogs, pigs and camelids (llamas and alpacas).
Can I Carry on Selling Milk During a TB Breakdown?
Although the risk is small, we do not ignore it. Your milk purchasers will be informed about your herd and the medical authorities may also be informed. If you have any worries about your or your family’s health, you should explain the circumstances to your doctor.
Milk from any positive reactor may not be used for human consumption. The milk from such animals must be withheld from the bulk tank and disposed of in the farm slurry system. If you wish to spread this milk directly onto land you must apply for a waste licence exemption from the NIEA. Milk from the rest of your herd, including milk from inconclusive reactors can continue to be sold, provided it is pasteurised.
What if I Sell Unpasteurised Milk?
You will not be allowed to continue to sell your own unpasteurised milk or unpasteurised milk products (such as cream, yoghurt, cheese and so on) for human consumption, even if bovine TB is only suspected, until your herd is shown to be free of TB.
Can We Drink Raw Milk from the Bulk Tank?
DAERA recommends that you should not drink unpasteurised raw milk. You will not know if you have bovine TB in your herd unless signs are found at routine slaughter, or at a TB herd test. The safest option is to purchase pasteurised milk for your own use.
Can I Feed Reactor Milk to Calves?
It is illegal, under domestic legislation in Northern Ireland to feed milk from reactor cows to calves unless it has first been sterilised (pasteurised).