(c) Wildstock Wildstock.jpg "Badgers and bTB - (c) Wildstock")
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the first organisation to spend its own money to vaccinate badgers against bovine TB.
The first badger to be found infected with bovine TB was a road casualty animal in Gloucestershire in 1971. Over the intervening 40 years there has been a remorseless increase in the number of cattle that have been tested positive for the disease not just in the South West of England but also in Wales and the Midlands. The consequence of the disease for affected farmers has been financial disruption, unwanted distraction and psychological pressure.
In late 2010, the Trust decided that it would pay for the deployment of the new bTB badger vaccine at a cost of over £5000 making it the first organisation to do this. This work, which has been funded by the Trust’s members, began in mid June by specially trained Trust staff on a set of nature reserves where the badger vaccination could be used practically, to the benefit of the Trust’s, and its neighbour’s, cattle.
Peer reviewed research demonstrated that vaccinating uninfected badgers with BCG resulted in a 74% reduction in the incidence of badgers testing positive to the antibody blood test for TB. The Trust’s five year vaccination programmes will seek to achieve a level of immunity within the badgers that it captures and treats on its nature reserves.
BadgerBCG alone is not the solution to bTB, but it does have an immediate effect with no associated negative impact. Culling, as its most vocal supporters admit, produces an increase in bTB in neighbouring herds through perturbation and as yet no proven benefit. Indeed, the Independent Scientific Group research concluded that culling should not be part of the government ‘toolbox’.
The Wildlife Trusts’ badger advisory group submitted a very clear set of responses to the Defra consultation:
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Badger vaccination should be explored as the major way, in the short to medium term, of tackling badger-cattle and badger-badger transfer of bTB.
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All possible biosecurity measures should be pursued following the ISG recommendations, and where appropriate regulating their application by farmers and landowners, and providing advice, support and incentive.
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More research should be carried out into the incidence of bTB within different farming methods.
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Current testing methods and regimes should be reviewed and more effective testing methods developed.
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A cattle vaccine against bTB should be developed as a matter of priority and all legislative hurdles overcome to enable this to become the long term solution to bTB.
The Wildlife Trusts made it clear that badgers, whilst a significant part of the wildlife reservoir of bTB, are not the major source of infection within the national herd.
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust believes that by playing an active role in promoting BadgerBCG vaccination, it is contributing to a practical solution. The industry needs a long term answer, vaccination offers hope. The Trust will continue to pay its contribution.
Downloads
| Filename | File size |
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| GWT-Badger-Vaccination-Deployment-Programme-2011.pdf | 826.73 KB |