Loading ...Bovine TB and Badgers – the debate grinds on – part 2
In my last post on Bovine TB and Badgers we looked at the official reports on the transmission of bovine tuberculosis from badgers to cattle herds and how their conclusions differed quite considerably.
Today we’ll look at the Badger Trust and what they have to say about the reports and science behind this issue.
In a press release dated 30 March 2008 the Badger Trust state “Badger Trust Cymru reveals that Northern Ireland had a similar TB situation to Wales but has halved the problem in just four years through better cattle testing, monitoring and enforcement, and without killing a single badger. In contrast, the Republic of Ireland has been exterminating badgers non-stop since 2002 and has not even dented its colossal bovine TB problem.”
The release goes on to quote Trevor Lawson, bovine TB advisor to Badger Trust Cymru, saying “We very much hope that Elin Jones will have the political wisdom to reject the culling proposal from Rural Development Sub-Committee and instead focus all her resources on cattle, which are the real reservoir of bovine TB infection.”
This left me with two questions, firstly are the statistics reported for Ireland correct and verifiable by little old me and secondly how does bTB actually spread.
From what I read it seems to me that Badger Trust’s comments suggest that bovine TB is called bovine for a reason and that it is cattle that pass the disease on to badgers and other species. They point at the TB hotspots in Wales and trace the explosion of TB (144% increase between 2001-2002) back to replacement cattle brought in to Wales following the foot and mouth disease crisis, when the government allowed movement of untested herds.
They also point to Ireland where, they claim, the Republic of Ireland have been killing badgers since 2002 and yet, despite a 200,000 drop in cattle population with a drop in 7,000 herds, the incidence of bTB has failed to drop, with 3.64% of herds infected in 2002 and 3.34% in 2007. Whereas in Northern Ireland where they introduced a policy change in recording and prior testing for cattle movements, yet have not killed a single badger, they have seen a 50% drop in bTB reactors.
Northern Ireland used to have the highest rates of bTB in Europe, which peaked in 2001 following the FMD crisis. In 2004 they introduced very tough restrictions for cattle from herds that had missed their TB test and Badger Trust state “The number of herds overdue for their TB test fell from 3,306 in October 2004 to just 358 in October 2005″.
These figures seem perfectly reasonable, because farmers would be more inclined to test on schedule if they know their herd movements will be restricted otherwise.
One thing I found particularly interesting in the Badger Trust report on the fate of Wales’ Badgers was the information on page 6 regarding Northern Ireland’s approach to “associated herds”. Data is gathered to show which herds are grazed, housed, tested or handled together or where there are repeated unlicenced movements of a herd or animals between herds.
It only makes sense to gather information on what contact herds have had in order, after a herd is tested positive, to trace the potential spread of the disease and test “associated herds”. I find it quite incredible that England does not gather such data (other than the Farm Management Questionnaire CCS2005, a one year study of 4 hotspot areas). However, having sat at the kitchen table with our neighbours and the movements book saying “did we move them over to you in June or July” means this data is not a certainty but could give clear indications of where next to look for TB when an outbreak occurs.
The Badger Trust call for the agricultural industry to consider the farm to farm and on-farm risk factors in the spread of bTB. Also for the widespread use of the gamma interferon blood test, as the skin test misses approximately 30% of infected cattle. They also claim that a vast majority of badgers killed in a cull would be perfectly healthy, as there is no effective testing method to establish which badger setts are infected.
The the Badger Trust it is a no brainer, the government must implement widespread effective testing of cattle, prior to movements, in order to reduce the 30% of infected cattle that are missed during testing, thus halting the spread of bTB to badgers. Data must be gathered on associated herds and farm husbandry must be challenged to increase biosecurity and provide less opportunity for badgers to come into contact with cattle.
Obviously the Badger Trust and similar conservation organisations point to the ISG report which concludes that culling badgers in fact spreads the disease outside the cull area.
To go back to my two questions, are the figures provided by Badger Trust correct and verifiable. Despite hours of searching and reading I was unable to read any official reports which clearly stated these figures. Their report on Wales’ badgers (link provided above) does have a references page at the end but I, possibly due to lack of research ability, was unable to access the information.
Secondly how is bTB transmitted between the species, either badger to cattle or cattle to badger. The answer is a resounding “we don’t really know”. The ISG and Sir King’s report suggested that the most likely method of transmission is by the inhalation of infected droplets or ingestion but this is at present a best guess.
In my next post I want to look at the agriculture industry position on bTB and badgers.
The other posts in this series can be found here:
Bovine TB and Badgers – the debate grinds on – part 1
Bovine TB and Badgers – the debate grinds on – part 3
Bovine TB and Badgers – the debate grinds on – conclusion
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