The new Welsh bovine TB Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will meet for the first time this week, following an announcement from the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.
Its first meeting will take place on Wednesday April 17.
Bovine TB
Prof. Glyn Hewinson will chair the TAG. Huw Irranca-Davies said he had a wealth of knowledge and as Sêr Cymru Chair of the TB Centre of Excellence in Aberystwyth, he will be at the forefront of leading the group.
See also: Young Farmer Focus - Molly Mead: "We have lost 12 animals to bovine TB"
Mr Irranca-Davies said they had listened to the views of the farming community, with the TAG's first priority to review the current on-farm slaughter policy.
In addition, following the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group, the TAG will also be inviting external organisations to give evidence to inform the group findings.
He said: "Last Thursday (11 April) I visited a farm participating in the Pembrokeshire Project, alongside Professor Hewinson to see, and hear, first-hand about some of the innovative, Welsh Government funded partnership work being carried out between farmers and their vets at the local level. It is essential this kind of collaborative approach is at the heart of the Eradication Programme, the TAG will be central to this."
Welsh Government
The TAG will meet quarterly and provide advice to Welsh Ministers through the forthcoming TB Programme Board. In the interim, until the Programme Board is established, advice will come to the Cabinet Secretary via the Chief Veterinary Officer, Richard Irvine.
See also: Substantial fines for farmers who 'knowingly' kept cattle with bovine TB reactors on farm
Samuel Kurtz, Shadow Rural Affairs Minister, said the length of time taken showed eradicating bTB was not a priority.
"More of the same in bTB eradication policy is not an option, especially when across the border there has been marked success in the reduction of Bovine TB.
"I hope this advisory group can convince the Welsh Government to follow the science, because the track record of previous Rural Affairs ministers is poor when it comes to understanding the disease, the impact on livestock and wildlife, and the human impact on farmers across Wales living with this black cloud over them."
See also: Huw Irranca-Davies appointed Wales' Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
The members of the group are:
Robert Smith
A Clinical Scientist and public health infectious disease epidemiologist with over 30 years' experience in zoonotic, parasitic and gastrointestinal infections with Public Health Wales and its predecessors.
David Grove-White
Was Head of the Department of Livestock Health and Welfare at the University of Liverpool until retirement in 2019. He qualified as a veterinary surgeon from Liverpool in 1975 and spent his working life with both beef and dairy cattle in the UK and overseas in the Middle East and Africa.
Gwenllian Rees
Lecturer in Veterinary Science at Aberystwyth University, Veterinary Development Manager with Menter a Busnes and President of the Welsh Branch of the British Veterinary Association.
Sarah Tomlinson
A Farm vet with over 22 years' experience in clinical practice. She is the Technical Director of the TB Advisory Service (TBAS), a Defra funded project delivering bespoke bTB biosecurity advice to livestock keepers across England, through private vets.
Gareth Enticott
A Professor of human geography at Cardiff University. For the last 25 years, his work has examined the social dimensions of the management of animal disease, focusing on bTB in England, Wales and New Zealand.
Gareth Edwards
A veterinary surgeon from North Wales. His career has included working in rural veterinary practices in north Wales, research, the pharmaceutical industry and Government.
Ifan Lloyd
A veterinary surgeon with over 35 years' experience working as a clinical vet and 17 years as a Partner in a mixed veterinary practice in Swansea. A director of Iechyd Da (gwledig) the veterinary delivery partner covering South Wales.
Keith Cutler
A practising cattle vet and has a particular interest in infectious disease diagnostics and control on an individual animal and herd level and after several years on the CHeCS board and involvement with the CHeCS Technical Group he now chairs the Technical Group.
Sarah Woollatt
A veterinary surgeon of over 6 years with experience largely in farm animal practice alongside both vet student and farm client education.
