A new online tool for near real-time exploration of cattle and bovine tuberculosis trends in Ireland

A new online tool for near real-time exploration of cattle and bovine tuberculosis trends in Ireland | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Short Report A new online tool for near real-time exploration of cattle and bovine tuberculosis trends in Ireland Jamie Madden, Eamonn Gormley, Guy McGrath, Miriam Casey-Bryars This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8468046/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: InIreland, there has been an increase in bovine tuberculosis (bTB) incidence between 2015 and 2024. Access to the latest bTB statistics and trends in a user friendly and accessible format would significantly aid researchers, policymakers, and enhance public understanding through transparent communication. Methods: We utilised data from the Irish national bTB eradication programme to create an extensive array of statistics relating to bTB burden that were compiled into a website which allows users to investigate the latest trends. In addition, we created a timeline of major events and policy changes to provide context for understanding the evolution of bTB burden. Results: The interactive website can be accessed here https://tinyurl.com/btbtrends. Limitations: This online tool will be augmented with new data on an ongoing basis when it becomes available, resulting in as close to real-time feedback as is possible. However, due to delays in data provision, there may be a lag of up to one year on some of the data we receive. Conclusion: This accessible tool will serve as a transparent resource for researchers, policymakers and the wider public to understand bTB epidemiology going forward. bovine tuberculosis trends bovine statistics online tool website Mycobacterium bovis Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Introduction Mycobacterium bovis ( M. bovis ) is a zoonotic bacterium that causes bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle and is endemic in many countries [1]. Ireland has an extensive national bTB eradication programme that consists of a test-and-slaughter policy, in conjunction with routine slaughterhouse surveillance [2, 3]. Despite protracted and costly control efforts, there has been a deterioration in the national bTB situation over the last number of years. This has placed increased pressure and focus on all aspects of the eradication programme. In these circumstances, access to the latest bTB statistics in a user friendly and accessible format could significantly aid researchers, policymakers, and enhance public understanding on the management of bTB outbreaks. We have documented an analysis of temporal and seasonal trends, and statistics of bTB in Irish cattle, 2008-2024 in our companion paper [4]. As part of this study, there was an extensive range of additional output and analyses that was not included in the main manuscript. Instead an interactive website has been developed to enhance access and dissemination of the information — reflecting the increasing emphasis on requirements for transparency, open science, and effective communication of research outputs [5-7]. Additionally and specifically in relation to bTB, timely access to results and the reduction of delays to obtaining results were explicitly identified as priorities to aid researchers and policymakers in a recent review of bTB [8]. The website can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/btbtrends. In time, this online tool will be augmented with new data on an ongoing basis, resulting in as close to real-time feedback as is possible. Thus, the primary aim of this article is to highlight and increase awareness of this valuable online tool. A secondary aim is to collate a list of major intervention studies and diagnostic trials, and diagnostic and policy changes during the Irish bTB eradication programme (2005-2024) and to produce a graphical timeline visualisation to provide an understanding the evolution of bTB burden in Ireland. It is hoped that this website will serve as a useful tool for those seeking to better understand the complex epidemiology of bTB. Methods Website overview An overview of the data, methods and analyses contained within the website can be found in the companion paper [4]. In brief, we utilised data from the Irish national bTB eradication programme (Animal Health Computer System (AHCS), Animal Identification and Movement System (AIM), Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)), which included results from herd-level Single Intradermal Comparative Tuberculin Tests (SICTTs), animal-level laboratory tests (from animals with suspect bTB lesions) and the animal-level interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) blood tests. From these rich datasets, an extensive array of bTB statistics were estimated e.g., bTB case numbers, bTB herd prevalence, etc. These were presented graphically and in tabular form. Overview of major intervention trials, diagnostic and policy changes timeline In order to collate a list of the major intervention studies and diagnostic trials (e.g. badger vaccination field trial), and diagnostic and policy changes during the bTB eradication programme (2005 – current) we undertook several steps. We consulted with research and policy colleagues involved with the programme during this time and who were familiar with the intricacies of the cattle industry. This also included discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) who developed and adjusted policy over the years. Previous reviews undertaken which covered both cattle and wildlife interventions aiming to control bTB [3, 9-12] also informed our timeline. Our work builds on this previous work to provide an updated and holistic overview of national measures relevant to bTB epidemiology in Ireland between 2005 and 2024. Potential future measures in the future will be added to our interactive website. We present the timeline in an interactive graphical representation with bTB herd prevalence and case numbers overlaid for reference. All analysis was conducted using R 4.5.1 (R Core Team (2025)). The website was created with Quarto [13] in RStudio and is hosted on GitHub [14, 15]. Results The website consists of several sections including: an interactive timeline of major intervention trials, diagnostic and policy changes, demographics, bTB case numbers and herd-prevalence, lesion prevalence, bTB breakdowns (BDs), time-series and forecasting, SICTT test-types and a list of bTB publications associated with the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CVERA), the national resource centre for veterinary epidemiology in Ireland. Figure 1 presents a graphical timeline of some of the major trials, diagnostic and policy changes that have occurred during the bTB eradication programme (2005–2024) with bTB herd prevalence and case numbers overlaid for reference. This covers the majority of events that may have impacted bTB transmission dynamics between and within herds in Ireland. A selection of events considered to have had an impact on the burden of bTB (both positive and negative) over this period include the abolition of milk quotas (2015), which has had a major impact on the demographics of dairy herds, the introduction of the quality control programme for SICTT that has improved the application of SICTT in the field, the increased use and shift toward more consistent application of IFN-γ (from approximately 2015 onwards), the establishment of the TB stakeholder forum to work with industry and to consider ways to strengthen the bTB programme (2018), the change to the IFN-γ cut-off that reduced the test diagnostic sensitivity (2018), the inconclusive policy update in 2021 that applied more stringent testing to inconclusive animals which are known to be at increased risk being detected as a positive case, the introduction of whole genome sequencing of M. bovis that is hoped to give greater clarity in terms of attribution of infection (2018) and an update to the Animal Health Law that included pre-movement testing to detect cases at an earlier stage (law updated in 2021). Regarding the badger intervention programme, the major events during this period included the Kilkenny vaccine trial (2009–2012), the non-inferiority trial (2011–2017) and the roll out of the badger vaccination programme that commenced in 2018. When compared with the companion paper, there are fewer limits on the levels of output and analysis that can be included on the website, allowing readers to go beyond just broad level bTB statistics. As an example, we present a screenshot of two figures in Fig. 2 that were omitted from the companion paper but which we believe are of interest to readers (i) lesion prevalence within bTB positive animals classified by the SICTT and IFN-γ, by month and year and (ii) the number of bTB herd-level BDs started per month. Additional information is accessible by hovering the cursor over the data as seen in Fig. 2. Discussion An extensive and interactive web-based tool has been developed to increase visibility and dissemination of a range of bTB statistics and analyses undertaken on data from the Irish bTB eradication programme. The website will be updated when new data becomes available, and its accessible and user-friendly format will help it serve as a transparent resource for researchers, policymakers and the wider public going forward. Furthermore, our timeline of significant events and policy developments provides context in terms of interventions and demographic changes for understanding the evolution of bTB burden. The purpose of the policy and intervention timeline (and this accompanying paper) is not to provide an in-depth critique of policy events and changes. More and Good [ 6 ] and Sheridan [ 7 ] previously documented policy changes to the programme (1998–2012) while Ryan et al. [ 3 ], documented policy enhancements primarily for the period 2019–2023. Other reviews have focused on badger related interventions [ 8 , 9 ]. The aim, instead, was to update and combine the main elements from these reviews and to present them in a consolidated format allowing readers to visualise when different events occurred in relation to one another. The timeline demonstrates that events and policy changes rarely happen in isolation but overlap or occur simultaneously. This is not surprising, as policymakers continuously create and amend policy in the context of multiple emerging strands of evidence relevant to different elements of the bTB control programme. Evolution of European Union legislation has also influenced herd management in Ireland. For example, milk quotas were abolished by the Europe Union in 2015, and milk production/ herd size has subsequently increased substantially. A key objective for researchers and policymakers is often to evaluate the effects of specific policy changes. Our timeline facilitates consideration of concurrent changes, and subsequent analysis to disentangle their impacts. Work on other infectious diseases has demonstrated the usefulness of tools similar to the website presented in this paper. For example, most notably, the John Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard provided global real-time coronavirus surveillance statistics and attracted millions of users [ 16 , 17 ]. To support bTB control efforts, England and Wales have developed the free-to-access website ‘information bovine TB’ ( https://ibtb.co.uk ), which maps the location of cattle herds affected by bTB for the benefit of the farming community and veterinary health professionals [ 18 ]. Usage of the system has steadily increased over time and now stands at around 800 hits/day [ 19 ]. Regarding bTB trends specifically, Great Britain have a dedicated resource for bTB statistics [ 20 ] and an interactive dashboard [ 21 ]. In Ireland, a mapping tool has been developed to inform farmers about the bTB risks in their locality which received approximately 10,000 hits in the first year [ 22 ]. Many of the visualisations are interactive within our website with the intention to engage users and to improve transparency whereby additional layers of information can be accessed by hovering over data points or trend lines [ 23 , 24 ]. The website will be subject to change as improvements and suggestions are incorporated and new data is added e.g. to include a breakdown of analysis by Regional Veterinary Offices (RVOs). New data will be added as it becomes available to CVERA, with a potential lag of up to 12 months for some of the data. For various reasons, there may be very minor discrepancies between our results and those reported by DAFM, for more information and official general statistics, see the bTB eradication programme website [ 25 ]. One of the main strengths to the website lies in the level of detail of the data available and linked access to newly developed, model-based herd categorisations. For example, as discussed in the companion paper, we have been able to examine data at the monthly level and have demonstrated a strong seasonality effect in the timing of the disclosure of bTB cases. Declarations Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Ethical statement and consent to participate Since this study used national bTB surveillance data, no ethical approval was required. Data availability The datasets analysed during this study are available from Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), but are subject to data protection regulations and limitations (https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/organisation-information/data-protection/) Acknowledgements We would like to thank Simon More, Mike Horan, Jimmy Wiseman, Philip Breslin, Dan Collins and all CVERA staff members for useful discussions and input. We also acknowledge the assistance and support of ERAD (DAFM). The authors would also like to thank members from the AHCS Business Support Unit for supplying us with the relevant bTB data. Author Contribution JM conceived the website and manuscript, conducted the analysis and drafted the manuscript. MC, EG and GM contributed to the study design and curated material for the timeline. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript. Declaration of Competing Interest None declared. References Ramos B, Pereira AC, Reis AC, Cunha MV. Estimates of the global and continental burden of animal tuberculosis in key livestock species worldwide: A meta-analysis study. One Health. 2020;10:100169. More SJ, Good M. Understanding and managing bTB risk: perspectives from Ireland. Vet Microbiol. 2015;176(3-4):209–18. Ryan E, Breslin P, O'Keeffe J, Byrne AW, Wrigley K, Barrett D. The Irish bTB eradication programme: combining stakeholder engagement and research-driven policy to tackle bovine tuberculosis. Ir Vet J. 2023;76(Suppl 1):32. Madden, J.M., Gormley, E., Breslin, P., Barrett, D., Brock, J., Tratalos, J.A., Griffin, J., Horan, M., Casey, M. Temporal and seasonal trends of bovine tuberculosis in Irish cattle (2008-2024), 22 December 2025, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8387442/v1]. Tripathy JP, Bhatnagar A, Shewade HD, Kumar AMV, Zachariah R, Harries AD. Ten tips to improve the visibility and dissemination of research for policy makers and practitioners. (2220-8372 (Print)). Ravinetto R, Singh JA. Responsible dissemination of health and medical research: some guidance points. BMJ Evid Based Med. 2023;28(3):144–7. Xu E, Armond ACV, Moher D, Cobey K. Key challenges in epidemiology: embracing open science. J Clin Epidemiol. 2025;178:111618. Godfray, C., Hewinson, G., Silverman, B., Winter, M., & Wood, J. (2025). Bovine TB strategy review update. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Sheridan M, Good M, More SJ, Gormley E. The impact of an integrated wildlife and bovine tuberculosis eradication program in Ireland. Zoonotic Tuberculosis2014. p. 323–40. Sheridan M. Progress in tuberculosis eradication in Ireland. Vet Microbiol. 2011;151(1-2):160–9. More SJ, Good M. The tuberculosis eradication programme in Ireland: a review of scientific and policy advances since 1988. Vet Microbiol. 2006;112(2-4):239–51. Byrne AW, Allen A, Ciuti S, Gormley E, Kelly DJ, Marks NJ, et al. Badger Ecology, Bovine Tuberculosis, and Population Management: Lessons from the Island of Ireland. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2024;2024:8875146. Allaire, J., Teague, C., Scheidegger, C., Xie, Y., Dervieux, C., & Woodhull, G. (2025). Quarto (Version 1.7) [Computer software]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5960048. github. (2025). GitHub. Retrieved from https://github.com/. Madden,. J.M. Irish bTB trends https://github.com/j-madden-m/Irish_bTB_trends accessed 08/10/2025. Dong E, Du H, Gardner L. An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020. Dong E, Ratcliff J, Goyea TD, Katz A, Lau R, Ng TK, et al. The Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-19 Dashboard: data collection process, challenges faced, and lessons learned. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022;22(12):e370–e6. Mitchell A, Alexander N, Ellerbeck J, Enticott G, Hogarth P, Prosser A, et al. Challenges and opportunities of sharing animal health data for research and disease management: a case study of bovine tuberculosis. Rev Sci Tech. 2023;42:75–82. Mckay, S, Mitchell, A, Wint, W, Tait. The development and impact of an online bovine TB system for GB - information bovine TB (ibTB), GeoVet 2023 Conference, Poster Published 06/09/23, accessed 27/06/25 https://www.veterinariaitaliana.izs.it/index.php/GEOVET23/article/view/3234. Statistics about tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in Great Britain. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb#latest-statistics (accessed 16/10/2025). Statistics about tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in Great Britain, dashboard https://tbstatistics.github.io/interactive_dashboard/ (accessed 16/10/2025). Display TB., 2024, accessed 27/06/25 https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/9306f7eb60b1401a8b18f76f61f20aea. Andreas K, Rennie N, and Tarran B. “Best Practices for Data Visualisation.” Royal Statistical Society, 1 February 2024. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10600718. Setlur V, Cogley B. Functional Aesthetics for Data Visualization: Wiley; 2022. DAFM: Ireland’s Bovine Tuberculosis Programme https://www.bovinetb.ie (accessed 21/10/2025). Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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05:14:41","extension":"html","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":52618,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8468046/v1/7b5d61f71fba8d15c1f00302.html"},{"id":99578117,"identity":"fb488ade-061e-4416-9e97-21432a807a00","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-06 05:14:41","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":264657,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTimeline of major events during the bTB programme (fully interactive version available here: https://j-madden m.github.io/Irish_bTB_trends/timeline_policy.html).\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"timeline.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8468046/v1/8270b65428ba1e949873bc96.png"},{"id":99792455,"identity":"92fc28d4-397b-40d9-a705-7e0d6c6c83a8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 13:20:01","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":633985,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScreenshot of two interactive plots from the website illustrating (i) lesion prevalence within bTB cases by the SICTT and IFN-γby month and year and (ii) the number of bTB herd-level BDs started per month.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"figure2screenshot.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8468046/v1/25b4fc0e1d4e75b5b02797c0.png"},{"id":99804092,"identity":"a5ff278f-cb2d-481f-aa2e-70b74ac4b094","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 14:11:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1269276,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8468046/v1/ae024a7d-89de-4cd9-9b01-3b0b40fe9cdc.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eA new online tool for near real-time exploration of cattle and bovine tuberculosis trends in Ireland\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMycobacterium bovis\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eM. bovis\u003c/em\u003e) is a zoonotic bacterium that causes bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle and is endemic in many countries [1]. Ireland has an extensive national bTB eradication programme that consists of a test-and-slaughter policy, in conjunction with routine slaughterhouse surveillance [2, 3]. Despite protracted and costly control efforts, there has been a deterioration in the national bTB situation over the last number of years. This has placed increased pressure and focus on all aspects of the eradication programme. In these circumstances, access to the latest bTB statistics in a user friendly and accessible format could significantly aid researchers, policymakers, and enhance public understanding on the management of bTB outbreaks.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe have documented an analysis of temporal and seasonal trends, and statistics of bTB in Irish cattle, 2008-2024 in our companion paper [4]. As part of this study, there was an extensive range of additional output and analyses that was not included in the main manuscript. Instead an interactive website has been developed to enhance access and dissemination of the information \u0026mdash; reflecting the increasing emphasis on requirements for transparency, open science, and effective communication of research outputs [5-7]. Additionally and specifically in relation to bTB, timely access to results and the reduction of delays to obtaining results were explicitly identified as priorities to aid researchers and policymakers in a recent review of bTB [8]. The website can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/btbtrends. In time, this online tool will be augmented with new data on an ongoing basis, resulting in as close to real-time feedback as is possible.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThus, the primary aim of this article is to highlight and increase awareness of this valuable online tool. A secondary aim is to collate a list of major intervention studies and diagnostic trials, and diagnostic and policy changes during the Irish bTB eradication programme (2005-2024) and to produce a graphical timeline visualisation to provide an understanding the evolution of bTB burden in Ireland. It is hoped that this website will serve as a useful tool for those seeking to better understand the complex epidemiology of bTB.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWebsite overview\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn overview of the data, methods and analyses contained within the website can be found in the companion paper [4]. In brief, we utilised data from the Irish national bTB eradication programme (Animal Health Computer System (AHCS), Animal Identification and Movement System (AIM), Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)), which included results from herd-level Single Intradermal Comparative Tuberculin Tests (SICTTs), animal-level laboratory tests (from animals with suspect bTB lesions) and the animal-level interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) blood tests. From these rich datasets, an extensive array of bTB statistics were estimated e.g., bTB case numbers, bTB herd prevalence, etc. These were presented graphically and in tabular form. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOverview of major intervention trials, diagnostic and policy changes\u003c/em\u003e \u003cem\u003etimeline\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to collate a list of the major intervention studies and diagnostic trials (e.g. badger vaccination field trial), and diagnostic and policy changes during the bTB eradication programme (2005 – current) we undertook several steps. We consulted with research and policy colleagues involved with the programme during this time and who were familiar with the intricacies of the cattle industry. This also included discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) who developed and adjusted policy over the years. Previous reviews undertaken which covered both cattle and wildlife interventions aiming to control bTB [3, 9-12] also informed our timeline. Our work builds on this previous work to provide an updated and holistic overview of national measures relevant to bTB epidemiology in Ireland between 2005 and 2024. Potential future measures in the future will be added to our interactive website. We present the timeline in an interactive graphical representation with bTB herd prevalence and case numbers overlaid for reference.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll analysis was conducted using R 4.5.1 (R Core Team (2025)). The website was created with Quarto [13] in RStudio and is hosted on GitHub [14, 15].\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe website consists of several sections including: an interactive timeline of major intervention trials, diagnostic and policy changes, demographics, bTB case numbers and herd-prevalence, lesion prevalence, bTB breakdowns (BDs), time-series and forecasting, SICTT test-types and a list of bTB publications associated with the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CVERA), the national resource centre for veterinary epidemiology in Ireland.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFigure 1 presents a graphical timeline of some of the major trials, diagnostic and policy changes that have occurred during the bTB eradication programme (2005\u0026ndash;2024) with bTB herd prevalence and case numbers overlaid for reference. This covers the majority of events that may have impacted bTB transmission dynamics between and within herds in Ireland.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA selection of events considered to have had an impact on the burden of bTB (both positive and negative) over this period include the abolition of milk quotas (2015), which has had a major impact on the demographics of dairy herds, the introduction of the quality control programme for SICTT that has improved the application of SICTT in the field, the increased use and shift toward more consistent application of IFN-γ (from approximately 2015 onwards), the establishment of the TB stakeholder forum to work with industry and to consider ways to strengthen the bTB programme (2018), the change to the IFN-γ cut-off that reduced the test diagnostic sensitivity (2018), the inconclusive policy update in 2021 that applied more stringent testing to inconclusive animals which are known to be at increased risk being detected as a positive case, the introduction of whole genome sequencing of \u003cem\u003eM. bovis\u003c/em\u003e that is hoped to give greater clarity in terms of attribution of infection (2018) and an update to the Animal Health Law that included pre-movement testing to detect cases at an earlier stage (law updated in 2021). Regarding the badger intervention programme, the major events during this period included the Kilkenny vaccine trial (2009\u0026ndash;2012), the non-inferiority trial (2011\u0026ndash;2017) and the roll out of the badger vaccination programme that commenced in 2018.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen compared with the companion paper, there are fewer limits on the levels of output and analysis that can be included on the website, allowing readers to go beyond just broad level bTB statistics. As an example, we present a screenshot of two figures in Fig.\u0026nbsp;2 that were omitted from the companion paper but which we believe are of interest to readers (i) lesion prevalence within bTB positive animals classified by the SICTT and IFN-γ, by month and year and (ii) the number of bTB herd-level BDs started per month. Additional information is accessible by hovering the cursor over the data as seen in Fig.\u0026nbsp;2.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eAn extensive and interactive web-based tool has been developed to increase visibility and dissemination of a range of bTB statistics and analyses undertaken on data from the Irish bTB eradication programme. The website will be updated when new data becomes available, and its accessible and user-friendly format will help it serve as a transparent resource for researchers, policymakers and the wider public going forward. Furthermore, our timeline of significant events and policy developments provides context in terms of interventions and demographic changes for understanding the evolution of bTB burden.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe purpose of the policy and intervention timeline (and this accompanying paper) is not to provide an in-depth critique of policy events and changes. More and Good [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e] and Sheridan [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e] previously documented policy changes to the programme (1998\u0026ndash;2012) while Ryan et al. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e], documented policy enhancements primarily for the period 2019\u0026ndash;2023. Other reviews have focused on badger related interventions [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e]. The aim, instead, was to update and combine the main elements from these reviews and to present them in a consolidated format allowing readers to visualise when different events occurred in relation to one another. The timeline demonstrates that events and policy changes rarely happen in isolation but overlap or occur simultaneously. This is not surprising, as policymakers continuously create and amend policy in the context of multiple emerging strands of evidence relevant to different elements of the bTB control programme. Evolution of European Union legislation has also influenced herd management in Ireland. For example, milk quotas were abolished by the Europe Union in 2015, and milk production/ herd size has subsequently increased substantially. A key objective for researchers and policymakers is often to evaluate the effects of specific policy changes. Our timeline facilitates consideration of concurrent changes, and subsequent analysis to disentangle their impacts.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWork on other infectious diseases has demonstrated the usefulness of tools similar to the website presented in this paper. For example, most notably, the John Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard provided global real-time coronavirus surveillance statistics and attracted millions of users [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. To support bTB control efforts, England and Wales have developed the free-to-access website \u0026lsquo;information bovine TB\u0026rsquo; (\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://ibtb.co.uk\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://ibtb.co.uk\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e), which maps the location of cattle herds affected by bTB for the benefit of the farming community and veterinary health professionals [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]. Usage of the system has steadily increased over time and now stands at around 800 hits/day [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e]. Regarding bTB trends specifically, Great Britain have a dedicated resource for bTB statistics [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e] and an interactive dashboard [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e]. In Ireland, a mapping tool has been developed to inform farmers about the bTB risks in their locality which received approximately 10,000 hits in the first year [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMany of the visualisations are interactive within our website with the intention to engage users and to improve transparency whereby additional layers of information can be accessed by hovering over data points or trend lines [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e]. The website will be subject to change as improvements and suggestions are incorporated and new data is added e.g. to include a breakdown of analysis by Regional Veterinary Offices (RVOs). New data will be added as it becomes available to CVERA, with a potential lag of up to 12 months for some of the data. For various reasons, there may be very minor discrepancies between our results and those reported by DAFM, for more information and official general statistics, see the bTB eradication programme website [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]. One of the main strengths to the website lies in the level of detail of the data available and linked access to newly developed, model-based herd categorisations. For example, as discussed in the companion paper, we have been able to examine data at the monthly level and have demonstrated a strong seasonality effect in the timing of the disclosure of bTB cases.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eFunding\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthical statement and consent to participate\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince this study used national bTB surveillance data, no ethical approval was required.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData availability \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets analysed during this study are available from Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), but are subject to data protection regulations and limitations (https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/organisation-information/data-protection/)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe would like to thank Simon More, Mike Horan, Jimmy Wiseman, Philip Breslin, Dan Collins and all CVERA staff members for useful discussions and input. We also acknowledge the assistance and support of ERAD (DAFM). The authors would also like to thank members from the AHCS Business Support Unit for supplying us with the relevant bTB data.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJM conceived the website and manuscript, conducted the analysis and drafted the manuscript. MC, EG and GM contributed to the study design and curated material for the timeline. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDeclaration of Competing Interest\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNone declared.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRamos B, Pereira AC, Reis AC, Cunha MV. Estimates of the global and continental burden of animal tuberculosis in key livestock species worldwide: A meta-analysis study. One Health. 2020;10:100169.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMore SJ, Good M. Understanding and managing bTB risk: perspectives from Ireland. Vet Microbiol. 2015;176(3-4):209\u0026ndash;18.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRyan E, Breslin P, O\u0026apos;Keeffe J, Byrne AW, Wrigley K, Barrett D. The Irish bTB eradication programme: combining stakeholder engagement and research-driven policy to tackle bovine tuberculosis. Ir Vet J. 2023;76(Suppl 1):32.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMadden, J.M., Gormley, E., Breslin, P., Barrett, D., Brock, J., Tratalos, J.A., Griffin, J., Horan, M., Casey, M. Temporal and seasonal trends of bovine tuberculosis in Irish cattle (2008-2024), 22 December 2025, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8387442/v1].\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTripathy JP, Bhatnagar A, Shewade HD, Kumar AMV, Zachariah R, Harries AD. Ten tips to improve the visibility and dissemination of research for policy makers and practitioners. (2220-8372 (Print)).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRavinetto R, Singh JA. Responsible dissemination of health and medical research: some guidance points. BMJ Evid Based Med. 2023;28(3):144\u0026ndash;7.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eXu E, Armond ACV, Moher D, Cobey K. Key challenges in epidemiology: embracing open science. J Clin Epidemiol. 2025;178:111618.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGodfray, C., Hewinson, G., Silverman, B., Winter, M., \u0026amp; Wood, J. (2025). Bovine TB strategy review update. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSheridan M, Good M, More SJ, Gormley E. The impact of an integrated wildlife and bovine tuberculosis eradication program in Ireland. Zoonotic Tuberculosis2014. p. 323\u0026ndash;40.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSheridan M. Progress in tuberculosis eradication in Ireland. Vet Microbiol. 2011;151(1-2):160\u0026ndash;9.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMore SJ, Good M. The tuberculosis eradication programme in Ireland: a review of scientific and policy advances since 1988. Vet Microbiol. 2006;112(2-4):239\u0026ndash;51.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eByrne AW, Allen A, Ciuti S, Gormley E, Kelly DJ, Marks NJ, et al. Badger Ecology, Bovine Tuberculosis, and Population Management: Lessons from the Island of Ireland. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2024;2024:8875146.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAllaire, J., Teague, C., Scheidegger, C., Xie, Y., Dervieux, C., \u0026amp; Woodhull, G. (2025). Quarto (Version 1.7) [Computer software]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5960048.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003egithub. (2025). GitHub. Retrieved from https://github.com/.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMadden,. J.M. Irish bTB trends https://github.com/j-madden-m/Irish_bTB_trends accessed 08/10/2025.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDong E, Du H, Gardner L. An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDong E, Ratcliff J, Goyea TD, Katz A, Lau R, Ng TK, et al. The Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-19 Dashboard: data collection process, challenges faced, and lessons learned. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022;22(12):e370\u0026ndash;e6.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMitchell A, Alexander N, Ellerbeck J, Enticott G, Hogarth P, Prosser A, et al. Challenges and opportunities of sharing animal health data for research and disease management: a case study of bovine tuberculosis. Rev Sci Tech. 2023;42:75\u0026ndash;82.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMckay, S, Mitchell, A, Wint, W, Tait. The development and impact of an online bovine TB system for GB - information bovine TB (ibTB), GeoVet 2023 Conference, Poster Published 06/09/23, accessed 27/06/25 https://www.veterinariaitaliana.izs.it/index.php/GEOVET23/article/view/3234.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStatistics about tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in Great Britain. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb#latest-statistics (accessed 16/10/2025).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStatistics about tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in Great Britain, dashboard https://tbstatistics.github.io/interactive_dashboard/ (accessed 16/10/2025).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDisplay TB., 2024, accessed 27/06/25 https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/9306f7eb60b1401a8b18f76f61f20aea.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAndreas K, Rennie N, and Tarran B. \u0026ldquo;Best Practices for Data Visualisation.\u0026rdquo; Royal Statistical Society, 1 February 2024. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10600718.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSetlur V, Cogley B. Functional Aesthetics for Data Visualization: Wiley; 2022.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDAFM: Ireland\u0026rsquo;s Bovine Tuberculosis Programme https://www.bovinetb.ie (accessed 21/10/2025).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University College Dublin","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"bovine tuberculosis trends, bovine statistics, online tool, website, Mycobacterium bovis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8468046/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8468046/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBackground: InIreland, there has been an increase in bovine tuberculosis (bTB) incidence between 2015 and 2024. Access to the latest bTB statistics and trends in a user friendly and accessible format would significantly aid researchers, policymakers, and enhance public understanding through transparent communication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethods: We utilised data from the Irish national bTB eradication programme to create an extensive array of statistics relating to bTB burden that were compiled into a website which allows users to investigate the latest trends. In addition, we created a timeline of major events and policy changes to provide context for understanding the evolution of bTB burden.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults: The interactive website can be accessed here https://tinyurl.com/btbtrends.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLimitations: This online tool will be augmented with new data on an ongoing basis when it becomes available, resulting in as close to real-time feedback as is possible. However, due to delays in data provision, there may be a lag of up to one year on some of the data we receive.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusion: This accessible tool will serve as a transparent resource for researchers, policymakers and the wider public to understand bTB epidemiology going forward.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"A new online tool for near real-time exploration of cattle and bovine tuberculosis trends in Ireland","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-06 05:14:35","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8468046/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"4f68a6ec-176f-414e-855b-ed8b79271f98","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 6th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-06T05:14:35+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-06 05:14:35","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8468046","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8468046","identity":"rs-8468046","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}