DEER are less likely to infect cattle with TB than badgers, according to new figures which recorded low levels of the disease in Westcountry herds.

Statistics released by the Department of Food and Rural Affairs yesterday state that in West Somerset, 3.8 per cent of deer on public forest estate land have Bovine TB (bTB), while in Devon and Cornwall it was present in less then one per cent of animals.

The findings come from the South West England and Cotswolds Survey of Tuberculosis in Deer, which looked at public forests in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. They also show that the majority of bTB infection is found in fallow deer and the lowest in muntjacs.

A second report, also released yesterday, says that deer are likely to pose a lower TB risk to cattle than badgers throughout most of South West England.

Defra said that the two reports cannot predict the role that deer may play in the current epidemic of bTB in cattle but it does provide essential data for use in future research. Defra will be working with the Deer Initiative to share information with the farming industry.