EXCLUSIVE: Pets face risk from bovineTB

FAMILY pets could be at increasing risk from contracting TB as the disease spreads through wildlife and cattle herds.

Now Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has been urged to do more to collect data on the number of cats, dogs and other household animals struck down with tuberculosis.

Figures show that last year, 15 cats were infected – including eight across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset – compared to just two recorded cases in 1998.

Cattle herds in the Westcountry are the hardest hit by TB infections, with some areas seeing the number of cases increase by more than a third year on year.

In the first half of this year, Cornwall saw 135 new cases confirmed, Devon 284, Somerset 68 and Dorset 22.

But the potential threat to other animals has worried pet owners.

A Cornish woman, her daughter and the family dog were infected with bovine TB late last year. Research suggested they had probably contracted the disease from badgers.

Now MPs are calling on the Government to broaden its approach to tackling the disease – not just focus on the affects on cattle.

Mr Benn recently announced plans to create a Bovine TB Eradication Group comprising of industry figures, vets, animal health experts and officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to work together on drawing up a detailed strategy.

But he faced calls in Westminster to expand the scope of the group to include family pets.

In 2007, five domestic pigs, two goats, four alpacas and 16 llamas were infected with TB in England and Wales.

In the last five years, 48 cats have been recorded nationwide with the disease.

Defra vets admit that in areas where there is "a lot of disease in cattle", it could present a "greater risk of transmission to domestic species... but not necessarily".

Lib-Dem MP Dan Rogerson, a member of the Commons environment select committee, said: "At this stage, this is still not numbers people should be worried about.

"If it is increasing in cattle and badgers, now is the time to be talking about it, not waiting until it becomes a problem."

The North Cornwall MP said the new Bovine TB Eradication Group should not simply focus on the disease in cattle herds, and should be expanded to include the apparent growing rate of infection among domestic pets.

"If it is going across to other species, it could be a risk to pets and people.

"We actually don't know the size of the problem."

The Government insists that changes made in 2005 to the reporting procedure for TB in pets may have had an effect on the rise in numbers.

Mr Benn said: "We should seek to understand what the rise in the figures tells us, bearing in mind the changes in reporting requirements.

"The health protection agency assessment of the risk to human health is low."

Challenged about the potential for cross-over between wildlife and pets, he added: "The figures wouldn't appear to demonstrate that that is the case to date, but obviously we keep a very close eye on it."

He insisted the focus of the new group would be on tackling the level of disease in cattle for "obvious reasons".