The number of cattle slaughtered for TB control purposes in Great Britain in 2024 and 2025 were as follows:

The comparative format of the tuberculin skin test used in the UK is very specific (99.98% at the standard interpretation), so the probability of a false positive result is roughly 1 in 5,000 to 6,000 uninfected cattle tested. This means the department can be confident that the vast majority of skin test-positive cattle (i.e. test reactors) are truly infected with TB, irrespective of post-mortem and laboratory findings.

Bovine TB statistics are published on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb.