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Research and analysis

Cattle: TSE surveillance statistics

Statistics on the surveillance of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in cattle in the United Kingdom.

Updates to this page

From:
Animal and Plant Health Agency
Published:
11 February 2015
Last updated:
16 September 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated the current BSE statistics spreadsheet.

  2. Updated the current BSE statistics spreadsheet.

  3. Updated the current BSE statistics spreadsheet.

  4. Updated the current BSE statistics spreadsheet.

  5. Added the latest BSE statistics to the 'Cattle: TSE surveillance statistics' page

  6. Updated the current BSE statistics document.

  7. Updated the current BSE statistics document.

  8. Updated the current BSE statistics document.

  9. Updated the current BSE statistics document.

  10. Updated the current BSE statistics document.

  11. Removed the following documents: overview of Great Britain statistics, general statistics, age and related statistics, BSE cases born after the reinforced feed ban (BARB). Added new documents: current BSE statistics and historical BSE statistics.

  12. Updated the following 3 TSE statistics documents: 'Overview of Great Britain statistics', 'General statistics' and 'Age and related statistics'.

  13. Updated all 4 Cattle TSE surveillance statistics documents.

  14. Updated the following 3 TSE statistics documents: 'Overview of Great Britain statistics', 'General statistics' and 'Age and related statistics'.

  15. Updated the following 3 TSE statistics documents: 'Overview of Great Britain statistics', 'General statistics' and 'Age and related statistics'.

  16. Updated all 4 Cattle TSE surveillance statistics documents.

  17. Added the latest age and related statistics.

  18. Updated the following TSE statistics documents: age and related statistics and the lists of BARB cases.

  19. Updated all 4 Cattle TSE surveillance statistics documents.

  20. Updated all 4 Cattle TSE surveillance statistics documents.

  21. Updated all 4 Cattle TSE surveillance statistics documents.

  22. Updated the general statistics.

  23. Update all 4 attachments.

  24. Updated the following TSE statistics documents: Overview of Great Britain statistics, general statistics, age and related statistics, list of BSE cases born after the reinforced feed ban (BARB).

  25. Updated the following TSE statistics documents: general statistics, age and related statistics and the lists of BARB cases.

  26. Updated the overview of Great Britain statistics document.

  27. Updated the following TSE statistics documents: overview of Great Britain statistics, general statistics, age and related statistics, list of BARB cases.

  28. Updated the following TSE statistics documents: Overview of Great Britain statistics, general statistics, age and related statistics, list of BARB cases.

  29. Updated the documents to include the latest data.

  30. Attachments updated to include February 2021 data.

  31. Updated the overview and general statistics documents.

  32. Stats available for November 2020.

  33. Updated the cattle TSE surveillance statistics: overview of GB, age and related and general.

  34. Updated the TSE cattle barb cases statistics.

  35. Updated the cattle TSE surveillance statistics: overview of GB and general.

  36. Updated cattle TSE surveillance statistics reports for September 2019

  37. Published cattle TSE stats for August 2019

  38. Replacement documents with July statistics uploaded.

  39. Stats available for June

  40. May 2019 statistics available

  41. Statistics updated

  42. Statistics updated

  43. Statistics available for February 2019

  44. Documents updated

  45. Documents updated

  46. Documents updated

  47. Documents updated

  48. List of BARB cases updated

  49. Documents updated

  50. Documents updated

  51. Documents updated

  52. Cattle documents updated

  53. Cattle documents updated

  54. Documents updated

  55. Documents updated

  56. Cattle documents updated

  57. Removed 'cattle over 72 months which are healthy and slaughtered for human consumption' bullet under testing programme includes section.

  58. Documents updated

  59. Updated documents

  60. Updated documents

  61. Documents updated

  62. Updated cattle documents

  63. Updated cattle documents

  64. Updated documents

  65. Cattle documents updated

  66. Updated cattle documents

  67. Cattle age and Overview of Great Britain documents updated

  68. Updated cattle documents

  69. List of BARB cases updated

  70. Updated cattle documents

  71. Documents updated

  72. Documents updated

  73. Documents updated

  74. Cattle documents updated

  75. Cattle age document updated

  76. List of BARB cases document updated

  77. Cattle documents updated

  78. Cattle documents updated

  79. Cattle documents updated

  80. Documents updated

  81. Cattle documents updated

  82. Cattle documents updated

  83. Cattle documents updated

  84. Cattle documents updated

  85. Documents updated

  86. Cattle documents updated for November 2015

  87. Updated documents for October 2015.

  88. Updated statistics for September 2015

  89. Documents updated for August 2015

  90. Documents updated for May 2015

  91. First published.

  92. AHVLA documents have been re-assigned to the new Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

Documents

BSE statistics (current - regularly updated)

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 208 KB

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BSE statistics (legacy data - no longer updated)

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 81 KB

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Details

These documents provide statistics on the number of cases of TSE disease found through the active and passive disease surveillance of cattle in the United Kingdom.

The UK has BSE Negligible Risk Status. We have updated how we present BSE data to reflect this.

There are now 2 datasets:

  • current statistics - updated when new cases occur
  • legacy statistics - historical data that’s no longer updated

BSE statistics were divided into current and historical statistics after May 2025, when the UK was awarded BSE negligible risk status. Historical statistics will focus on the peak of the epidemic, while current statistics incorporate relevant information.

Cases of TSE disease identified in cattle from passive surveillance in United Kingdom have been recorded since 1986. The UK carried out limited active surveillance in cattle from 1999 to 2001. The European Union active surveillance programme started in July 2001.

The UK carries out active disease surveillance for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. The testing programme includes cattle over 48 months of age which:

  • die or are killed other than for human consumption (fallen cattle)
  • are emergency slaughtered or show certain abnormalities at ante-mortem inspection

These age thresholds apply to cattle born in the United Kingdom or in other EU member states except Bulgaria and Romania. For cattle born elsewhere the age thresholds are 24 months for fallen cattle or emergency slaughtered cattle, and 30 months for healthy fallen cattle.

Passive disease surveillance takes place when an animal with clinical signs suspicious of a TSE disease is reported to Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), and further investigation determines whether the animal was affected by BSE or scrapie.

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