The Results from the Executive Summary for this project is reproduced here. The full report can be found by following the link to the Defra website.

We used the foot and mouth disease epidemic in 2001 to examine bovine tuberculosis (bTB) herd breakdowns in cattle. During the FMD epidemic bTB testing was reduced and cattle movements were altered: on most farms movement was restricted and others had their herds removed; some farmers restocked, forming new cattle herds. We used these changes in movement (both less than usual and more than usual) to look for evidence of cattle to cattle transmission of bovine tuberculosis. We interviewed 148 farmers and used testing data (stored in VetNet) and cattle movements (stored in the British Cattle Movement Scheme (BCMS) database). 

The key results are:

1. Approximately 6% of newly formed cattle herds broke down at their first bTB test after restocking. The risks of herd breakdown increased when
   
   
   1. the farm had had a herd breakdown before 2001.
      
      • This risk reduced the longer the time since the last breakdown. Note that this means that there is a farm-based risk, since all the cattle were removed; this implies some environmental contamination such as stored slurry or local wildlife or neighbouring cattle were the source of infection
        
   2. replacement cattle were purchased from herds that had had more than 6 bTB tests in the previous 12 years
      
   3. the number of cattle tested was high
   
   
2. Approximately 50% of the 148 cohort farms broke down during the study. Associated risks with bTB exposure were
   
   
   1. farm history of bTB
      
   2. storing manure or slurry in a closed container compared with storing in the open or spreading immediately
      
   3. purchasing cattle from market
      
   4. purchasing steers
      
3. Approximately 1,000 / 55,000 cattle that were tested on the 148 farms between 2001 and 2004 reacted to the bTB skin test. The strongest risks for being a reactor were
   
   1. the number of reactors cattle were exposed to before the test
      
   2. TB history of the farm
      
   3. herd size
      
4. Combining bTB testing data (VetNet) and cattle movement data (BCMS) showed that 72-84% of cattle were not tested for TB in their lifetime.
   
5. Mathematical models indicate that patterns of change in bTB HBD can be explained by the consequences of changing testing intervals over time.
   
6. Mathematical models indicate that the varying numbers of reactors within herds may be explained by a delay in cattle becoming infectious, so that some reactors are removed before they become infectious (giving one reactor in a HBD) and others are not (giving several reactors).
   

The results of this study to date indicate that:

1. Infection can be imported on to farms through movement of infected cattle.
   
2. There is a risk of HBD from persistence of bTB in the farm environment, outside of cattle on the farm. This risk decays with time since HBD.
   
3. The distribution of numbers of reactors by herds after a period without testing is highly suggestive of on-farm transmission between cattle.
   
4. Farm management practices associated with the risk of HBD included purchasing practices, management of manure and diet.
   
5. The frequency of testing for bTB determines the success of both control and surveillance. We hypothesise that increasing testing coverage / effort will result in more HBD and greater control.
   

The full report can be found on Defra website here.