Livestock movement restrictions are in force on dozens of Pembrokeshire farms as bovine tuberculosis breakdowns in the countys herds escalate to a worrying level.

Pembroke vet Graham Goodrich has recorded no clear tests since testing resumed last December.

It is situation repeated across the county, one that is costing farmers thousands of pounds a year.

Producers are reimbursed for TB reactors but there is no compensation for stock which cannot be sold because of movement restrictions. Although no major breakdowns have been recorded in Pembrokeshire, just one reactor is sufficient to trigger these restrictions.

Post-mortem results often show an absence of TB lesions, prompting many to question the accuracy of the existing screening test.

There could be other reasons for the inaccuracies, suggests Graham Goodrich. Cows could be coming into contact with TB but because their immune systems are functioning well perhaps they are shrugging it off, he said.

They could also be coming into contact with another agent which may cause them to react to the TB test.

Liver fluke has been evident in many culled reactors and it has been suggested that bovine viral diahorrea could make stock more reactive to the test.

It is a worrying situation for affected farmers, as those who attended a meeting hosted by the Farmers Union of Wales last week made clear.

Farmers had the opportunity to question Richard Griffiths who has charge of the TB testing programme in Pembrokeshire, and Glyn Davies, Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales and chairman of the Assemblys Rural Affairs Committee.

The FUW has called on the Government to devote more resources to tackling TB.

It suggests that Pembrokeshire is now considered a hotspot for the disease. Said the Unions director of agricultural policy, Arwyn Owen: The Government must take decisive action to tackle this disease now because they have remained inactive for far too long on this issue.

We all saw what happened last year when foot and mouth rapidly spread out of control throughout Britain. There is a real danger that the Government may not be devoting enough resources to tackling the current problems with TB, allowing it to spread across a wide area.