Northern Ireland Launches Cross-Border Pilot to Reduce Bovine TB Inspired by New Zealand

Northern Ireland launches a five-year cross-border pilot to reduce bovine TB, inspired by New Zealand's successful regional wildlife control strategy involving testing, vaccination, and removal of infected animals.

Cost and Impact of Bovine TB in Northern Ireland

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) has cost Northern Ireland £60 million over the past year due to expenses related to cattle testing, herd monitoring, and compensation for farmers whose animals have been culled.

New Cross-Border Pilot Inspired by New Zealand's Success

A new cross-border pilot project aims to replicate the success achieved by New Zealand in significantly reducing the number of infected herds. In New Zealand, possums are the primary wildlife carriers of bovine TB, unlike in Northern Ireland where badgers are the main concern.

"In the 1990s, we had about 1,700 infected herds, and as of this week I think we're down to 11,"

said Dallas New, a veterinary epidemiologist.

New Zealand's approach combines cattle testing and restrictions on animal movement from infected herds or high-risk areas with a regional wildlife intervention strategy.

"We have a co-ordinated programme across the entire country where we control possums to get the disease out of possums, and once it's clear, then we move on to the next area,"

added New.

This strategy will be mirrored in the pilot project, with badger setts surveyed along the border in the northwest of Ireland since early 2026. Badgers will be tested, vaccinated, or removed as part of the intervention.

A regionalisation approach has proven to be

"really successful"

in New Zealand, according to New, who is the lead veterinary epidemiologist at Operational Solutions for Primary Industries (OSPRI), an organisation that collaborates with farmers in New Zealand to manage animal diseases.

Andrew Muir, a man with short, greying hair, smiling at the camera while standing in a large cattle shed. He has blue eyes framed by round, thin-rimmed glasses. He is wearing a brown jacket with a suede-type collar, a blue shirt and an emerald green tie. There are lights along the roof of the shed. Cattle are eating from a line of hay behind him. — Northern Ireland's Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir said a consultation on wider wildlife interventions would be held in the spring

Political Support and Funding for the Pilot

Andrew Muir, Stormont's Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, described the cross-border five-year pilot as a

"step change"

in the approach to managing bovine TB. The project will serve as a proof-of-concept to test a regional strategy in a defined area before potentially expanding to other regions.

Shared Island Initiative and Cross-Border Collaboration

The pilot is funded under the Irish government's Shared Island Initiative. Martin Heydon, the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, stated that €11.7 million (£10.2 million) has been invested in the project because

"disease doesn't know any invisible border"

The initiative will span five years and focus on three key areas: people, cattle, and wildlife.

Irish Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon highlighted the cross-border nature of the threat posed by bovine TB

Muir indicated he would seek additional funding from Stormont's Executive Office to support the pilot, which aims to address a disease that remains

"a real concern"

within the farming community.

"This initiative is based on the three pillars of people, cattle and wildlife, so in terms of giving that biosecurity advice, but also increasing testing and being able to identify incidents within herds.

It also includes a wildlife intervention which is in terms of TVR (test and vaccinate or remove)."

He added that a consultation on broader wildlife interventions is planned for the spring. Notably, a previous plan by the former minister to cull badgers was overturned by the High Court.

Rising Costs and the Importance of a Unified Approach

The incidence and associated costs of bovine TB are also increasing in the Republic of Ireland. Martin Heydon emphasised that as a single epidemiological unit, the actions taken on either side of the border

"really matters"

Brian Dooher, Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland, stated that the pilot will

"find out what works with farmers, delivery bodies and ultimately lead to a better use of government resources."

"We're really looking from doing isolated interventions, to doing a more holistic strategy in collaboration with our colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to give us the evidence base for pushing forward on the control and eradication of bovine TB."

June Fanning, Chief Veterinary Officer for the Republic of Ireland, described the pilot as

"a great opportunity"

to adopt a cross-border approach to the disease.

"Regionalisation has been shown to be a really important part of any eradication that has been successful, be it Australia, New Zealand and other countries that are well on their way to eradicating the disease."