Badger TB vaccination rates remain steady, with 4,855 badgers captured in vaccination areas so far in 2022, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The number of badgers vaccinated against TB so far this year, at an average of 17 badgers per day, is just about on par with vaccination rates in 2021, where a total of 6,586 badgers were vaccinated or an average of 18 animals per day.
Meanwhile, badger vaccination costs incurred by the Department have increased for 2022 on costs experienced in 2021.
With a total spend of €1.912m on the vaccination programme in 2021, the average spend per vaccinated badger was €290. However, for the TB vaccinations completed so far in 2022, the cost has risen to an average of €330 per animal, up some 14%.
The Department’s badger vaccination programme has incurred costs of €1.606m so far this year. The average cost per badger captured in vaccination areas since the Department’s vaccination programme began in 2018 is €323.
Vaccine benefit
At a recent Irish Farmers' Association-organised (IFA) meeting on TB eradication in Wicklow, Department officials presented data which showed that vaccinating badgers against TB can reduce its spread.
Officials said that for every badger that’s infected with TB, they can infect 1.2 other badgers. However, with vaccination rates of 50%, every badger only has the ability to infect 0.5 other badgers.
“It reaches a magic number, a reproduction ratio of anything less than one. That’s the figure at which you stop the disease spreading,” the Department official said.
The badger TB vaccine is the same as that used for humans.
Farmers required
While discussion at the TB meeting in Wicklow often focused on the new classification of Sitka deer as a maintenance host for TB in the county, new head of the Department’s TB eradication programme Damien Barrett said “the badgers haven’t gone away either”.
“We need to address the issue of TB in badgers as well,” he told the 200 farmers present.
The Department has called on farmers to support its efforts to locate badger setts so animals can be trapped and vaccinated. \ Trinity College Dublin
Barrett highlighted that the Department doesn’t have “the man power to find every individual [badger] sett”, as “it’s just not possible, particularly in terrain where the going is heavy”.
He said a text message will be issued to all farmers in Wicklow, asking them to report setts to the Department, for vaccination.
“We know about some of them, but we want to know about all of them. As we move into the winter months, the setts will become a bit more obvious,” he said.
Farmers with badgers on their land, and who would like them vaccinated, are asked to work with neighbours to report them to the Department via www.bovinetb.ie.
Read more
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Badger TB vaccination rates remain steady, with 4,855 badgers captured in vaccination areas so far in 2022, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The number of badgers vaccinated against TB so far this year, at an average of 17 badgers per day, is just about on par with vaccination rates in 2021, where a total of 6,586 badgers were vaccinated or an average of 18 animals per day.
Meanwhile, badger vaccination costs incurred by the Department have increased for 2022 on costs experienced in 2021.
With a total spend of €1.912m on the vaccination programme in 2021, the average spend per vaccinated badger was €290. However, for the TB vaccinations completed so far in 2022, the cost has risen to an average of €330 per animal, up some 14%.
The Department’s badger vaccination programme has incurred costs of €1.606m so far this year. The average cost per badger captured in vaccination areas since the Department’s vaccination programme began in 2018 is €323.
Vaccine benefit
At a recent Irish Farmers' Association-organised (IFA) meeting on TB eradication in Wicklow, Department officials presented data which showed that vaccinating badgers against TB can reduce its spread.
Officials said that for every badger that’s infected with TB, they can infect 1.2 other badgers. However, with vaccination rates of 50%, every badger only has the ability to infect 0.5 other badgers.
“It reaches a magic number, a reproduction ratio of anything less than one. That’s the figure at which you stop the disease spreading,” the Department official said.
The badger TB vaccine is the same as that used for humans.
Farmers required
While discussion at the TB meeting in Wicklow often focused on the new classification of Sitka deer as a maintenance host for TB in the county, new head of the Department’s TB eradication programme Damien Barrett said “the badgers haven’t gone away either”.
“We need to address the issue of TB in badgers as well,” he told the 200 farmers present.
The Department has called on farmers to support its efforts to locate badger setts so animals can be trapped and vaccinated. \ Trinity College Dublin
Barrett highlighted that the Department doesn’t have “the man power to find every individual [badger] sett”, as “it’s just not possible, particularly in terrain where the going is heavy”.
He said a text message will be issued to all farmers in Wicklow, asking them to report setts to the Department, for vaccination.
“We know about some of them, but we want to know about all of them. As we move into the winter months, the setts will become a bit more obvious,” he said.
Farmers with badgers on their land, and who would like them vaccinated, are asked to work with neighbours to report them to the Department via www.bovinetb.ie.
Read more
‘Tough decisions’ needed to eradicate TB
Locked up with TB: ‘it takes over your life’
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