Housed cattle have more contact with badgers

A revision to Defra guidance means that groups of farmers in any part of England will now be able to apply for a licence to cull badgers.

To date, culling was only allowed in high-risk areas, which are mainly in the high bovine TB incidence, west and southwest of England.

The change means that culling can take place across the country in TB hotspot areas where there is clear evidence that TB is present in both cattle and badgers.

Culling of badgers must be done under licence by trained marksmen, either by controlled shooting of free-ranging badgers or shooting after trapping in a cage.

The aim in any cull is to lower the badger population, and therefore to minimise the risk of direct or indirect contact between badgers and cattle.

In 2017, official figures show that a total of 19,274 badgers were culled in England.

Housed

Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Nottingham and Scotland’s Rural College have highlighted that housed cattle can, in certain circumstances, have more contact with badgers, than cattle out in fields.

Writing in a recently published book, Bovine Tuberculosis, the researchers point out that although badgers forage for food in grassland, they also enter farm buildings to forage on livestock feed.

“Proximity contact between badgers and cattle is more frequent when cattle are housed than when they are grazing. Such behaviours provide potential for direct and indirect transmissions,” the chapter by Naomi Fox, Paul Barrow and Michael Hutchings reads.

They also note that badgers that are terminally ill with TB experience behavioural change and lose their fear of cattle, meaning direct contact rates between badgers and cattle can increase.

Skin test has eradicated TB

The recently published book, Bovine Tuberculosis, has compiled research findings and offers insights from various leading scientists on the disease.

“Many countries are now officially TB-free. This has all been done through the use of the tuberculin skin test,” the book’s editors Mark Chambers from University of Surrey, Stephen Gordon from University College Dublin, Francisco Olea-Popelka from Colorado State University and Paul Barrow from University of Nottingham state.

The skin test uses an immune response in cattle to detect TB, and researchers point out that cattle that have been exposed to TB, but subsequently become clear of the disease, can show up as reactors in the test.

“We may unwittingly be removing animals with a degree of immunological resistance to the infection,” note the book’s editors. Although the tuberculin skin test remains the cornerstone for detecting TB in live cattle worldwide, research is still needed to develop improved diagnostic tests, maintain the authors.

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