In a move that’s likely to stir strong emotions, the British government has proposed a further cull of badgers in order to combat bovine TB
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A life-and-death battle is brewing in the British countryside, pitting cows against badgers! Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is linked to the deaths of thousands of cattle in parts of Britain. The government says badgers are major wild animal reservoirs of the disease and, in some regions, wants to cull them. But some conservation groups say the government has its facts wrong, and badgers aren’t to blame.
Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is a chronic respiratory disease of cattle caused by the Mycobacterium bovis bacteria, which is closely related to the bacteria that cause human and avian TB. In addition to cattle, bovine TB can also infect badgers, deer, goats, pigs, and a number of other mammals. The disease spreads through inhaling the M. bovis bacteria, which most frequently happens when cows are kept huddled up close to one another.
It’s currently considered one of the biggest challenges to the UK cattle industry, with tens of thousands of infected cattle being destroyed each year. The disease is especially problematic in parts of southwest England and Wales.
As a zoonotic disease it can also be transmitted to people. Thanks to eradication programmes, it’s rare for it to infect humans in Europe, but in developing nations, it can cause major health problems.
The UK government quotes studies that say the badger is the most important reservoir of the M. bovis bacterium in Britain. For this reason, the government is proposing a further cull of badgers alongside a vaccination programme.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has launched a five-week consultation to gather views on a targeted badger culling programme in what the government describes as ‘high-risk areas and edge areas’ as well as a programme for vaccinating badgers. The consultation description states that in ‘targeted areas, culling would continue until the disease situation has improved, based on an annual review by the UK’s chief veterinary officer’ and that ‘badger vaccination would then be used to ensure the results achieved through culling are maintained. This will prevent the return of the disease in these areas.’
In Gloucestershire and Somerset, badger culls were introduced in 2013 to combat the disease. Recent statistics have shown that bovine TB infections in cattle decreased by 66 per cent in Gloucestershire and 37 per cent in Somerset after the introduction of culls.
The Environment Secretary, Steve Barclay, commented that ‘Bovine TB has taken a terrible toll on farmers, leading to the loss of highly prized animals and, in the worst cases, valued herds. There are no easy answers in the battle against TB, but badger culling has proved highly effective and needs to remain a key part of our approach. Our strategy has led to a significant reduction in this insidious disease, which we will continue to cull in areas where the evidence confirms it is required, as well as making use of vaccinations.’
However, not everyone agrees that a cull of badgers is the most effective way of reducing the spread of bovine TB. The Badger Trust says, ‘Over 210,000 badgers have been killed since the current badger cull began in England in 2013. Badgers are killed in their thousands from Cornwall to Cumbria under misguided and fundamentally flawed attempts to control bovine TB, an infectious respiratory disease which affects cattle.’
Quoting a recent study, the Badger Trust says: ’There is no evidence that badger culling has had any impact on reducing bovine TB in cattle. By comparing cull and non-cull areas the study showed that any reduction in bovine TB in cattle was likely a result of cattle measures. Further analysis of ten county areas considered high-risk areas for bovine TB shows that in 9 out of 10 of these counties, bovine TB in cattle peaked and then began to fall before the government ever implemented a badger cull.’
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