Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

(asked on 8th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of badger tuberculosis vaccine trials; what impact the outcome of those trials had on their decision making process as to whether to extend and expand the badger cull; and how they intend to monitor the effects of that cull on future vaccination trials.


This question was answered on 20th October 2020

The effects of badger vaccination by injection have been evaluated in several captive experimental studies and during a four-year field study in Gloucestershire. Although vaccination with BCG will not guarantee protection from infection, meaning some badgers may still become infected, these studies provide evidence of beneficial effects. In particular, they provide evidence that vaccination reduces the likelihood of badgers developing lesions or excreting TB bacteria and the rate of new infections. The studies also indicate that vaccinating more than one third of adults in a badger social group reduces new infections in unvaccinated badger cubs. It is therefore reasonable to assume that badger vaccination will reduce transmission from badgers to cattle.

Government policy has enabled farmers and landowners to apply for licences to cull or to vaccinate badgers. In its response to the Godfray Review, the Government has set out its ambition to move from badger culling to wider deployment of vaccination, with culling only taking place where surveillance in badgers and cattle indicates re-emerging or persistent infection. In areas where culling has been successfully deployed to reduce the amount of TB infection, we are now proposing to increase deployment of badger vaccination.

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