Bovine TB - " it must not become a "badgers v farming" debate..."    

"...An oral live bait vaccine will not be available for some time, and it is not reasonable to extrapolate from the results of an injectable vaccine trial to an oral bait trial; they are not equivalent. In my view, it is perfectly reasonable to have a further trial that will consider such issues. Farmers themselves, and certainly I, will be the first to say, "Let's not carry on with it, if it isn't shown to be effective." Nobody is suggesting that vaccination should have a wide roll-out until we know whether it is starting to work.
I call on members of the wider community at least to consider the other side of this debate and the effect on farming families, and to join me in paying tribute to the people who, as I said at the start, actually feed the nation and care for our countryside."

September 14th 2012 ~ Bill Wiggin in the dairy debate yesterday: "Probably no hon. Member has taken a TB test, so I will explain what it is like...."

(Read Mr Wiggins' short but highly effective speech in full)
"It is quite easy on day one when a farmer puts his cattle through the crush because the cattle do not know what is going to happen. The vet comes along and very carefully and professionally gives the cattle two injections, one for avian TB and the other for bovine TB. The cows do not think much of that.
Three days later, the vet comes back to feel whether the bovine bump is larger than the avian one and whether the cows have been exposed to tuberculosis. The cows do not know that they are

September 13th 2012 ~ "there is considerable evidence to support the removal of badgers in order to improve the TB status of both badgers and cattle.." says European subgroup on bovine TB

The report of the bTB subgroup report - SANCO/2012/11191 (pdf)- is supportive of the latest efforts in the UK - highly unpopular though they are among many in the UK - finally to start getting to grips with bovine TB. "There has been improvement since the group last visited UK in 2009 (before EU co-funding). In particular, the holistic approach is appreciated as well as the view that TB in badgers must also be dealt with, alongside cattle."
The link to the pdf file is here together with the conclusions and recommendationsof the report. While the group recognises the need to deal with wildlife, it also stresses that the focus on TB in cattle must be maintained.
The group shares our disappointment and concern that there is
"no scientific evidence to demonstrate that badger vaccination will reduce the incidence of TB in cattle. However there is considerable evidence to support the removal of badgers in order to improve the TB status of both badgers and cattle."
and says,
"There is a lot of skill and knowledge among the veterinary authorities and they must be allowed time to use it.......UK politicians must accept their responsibility to their own farmers and taxpayers as well as to the rest of the EU and commit to a long-term strategy that is not dependent on elections. The TB eradication programme needs continuity and it must be recognised that success will be slow and perhaps hard to distinguish at first. "
Read in full.

September 11th/12th 2012 ~Lord Justice Laws, Lord Justice Rimer and Lord Justice Sullivan unanimously rejected the appeal

Google News reports are here.

September 11th 2012 ~ ".. it was recognised by all responsible conservation bodies that a serious situation had arisen and with regret the ministry's action was considered justified" - will the High Court agree with Dr Earnest Neal?

But as the Farmers Guardian says, the pilot culls, due to start in West Somerset and West Gloucestershire in the 'early autumn'
"... could now be delayed, regardless of the outcome of today's court case, which is likely to be revealed in a week."
See FG article. The reader comment about the book by the acknowledged badger expert, Dr Ernest Neal 'The Natural History of Badgers' is well worth looking at. Having belatedly realised that the throat disease long noticed in badgers is actually bTB, Dr Neal wrote in 1986:
"Understandably, such drastic action against the badgers (gassing of setts) was looked upon with horror and dismay by naturalists and conservationists, but it was recognised by all responsible conservation bodies that a serious situation had arisen and with regret the ministry's action was considered justified"
Sir David Attenborough wrote the foreword to Neal's book:
"This book is a summation of all he (Dr Neal) has learned about the species .... It is likely to remain the authoritive account of badgers for a very long time to come.... The name Ernest Neal is linked permanently with badgers."
However, as the FG article shows, Sir David has joined a group of celebrities backing various campaigns to halt the cull.

September 7th 2012 ~ Owen Paterson is not known as someone who shirks a challenge, says Farmers Guardian

"He arrives at Defra having performed well in the difficult role of Northern Ireland and with strong, well-publicised views on many of the issues covered by his new Defra portfolio.
There is no doubt where he stands on bovine TB, for example. As Shadow Defra Minister in 2005 and 2006 Mr Paterson bombarded Defra with more than 500 written Parliamentary questions on the subject as he campaigned against the Labour Government's refusal to introduce a badger cull. .... . " Read in full

September 4th 2012 ~ DEFRA insists that the culling plans are consistent with the requirements of the Bern Convention on wildlife

From the Farmers Guardian
".... 16 people - a mix of celebrities, wildlife experts and animal welfare campaigners - say the culls should be delayed until the Council of Europe's Bern Convention on wildlife and natural habitats has considered a formal complaint submitted by Humane Society International/UK (HSI UK).
According to HSI UK, the Bern council has stated that it was not satisfied with Defra's initial response to its complaint and the matter is on the agenda for the committee's meeting in September. It is possible, however, that it will not be fully considered until a further meeting in November, many weeks after the cull is due to start...."
The FG article includes the names of those who signed the open letter saying that "... it is only right and proper that the UK Government delay the slaughter until the Convention has considered the evidence."

August 29th/30th 2012 ~ Vaccination campaign in Somerset

A vaccination campaign has started in Somerset ( www.thisiscornwall.co.uk). It was a shock to read that the chairman of the Somerset Badger Group, Adrian Coward, told the paper: "During field trials the vaccine has been proved to be effective in at least 74 per cent of badgers vaccinated" even though, in an interview with the Farmers Guardian on June 14th 2011 James Paice pointed out that the research paper published by Defra, seeming to suggest this 74% reduction in TB levels in vaccinated badgers, had been "seriously misreported and misunderstood" and had "not helped" the debate. It is worth noting that the authors of the Chambers paper Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination reduces the severity and progression of tuberculosis in badgers (Journal of the Proceedings of the Royal Society 2010) were very clear:
: "It's important to realise that the 74% (73.8%) figure represents a reduction in incidence of positive antibody tests brought about by vaccination and should not be equated to a vaccine efficacy of 74% "
Scientific reports of recent experimental work and badger vaccine trials are not easy to read. However, it seems unlikely that those non-experts who speak with such confidence about the usefulness of current vaccines have ever grappled with them. For those prepared to try, here is a selection:

August 24th/25th 2012 ~ A court date has been set for the Badger Trust's appeal against the legal decision to allow badger culling trials in England.

The Farmers Guardian reports that the appeal hearing has been listed to take place at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, 11 September. The two pilot culls, which were to begin in west Gloucestershire and west Somerset in the summer, will now be delayed at least until the autumn.
See below for the decision made by Mr Justice Ouseley on 12 July, who ruled that the culling could go ahead in England.
When on August 8th, Lord Justice Laws granted the right of appeal to the Badger Trust, he acknowledged that Mr Justice Ouseley was "probably right" in his decision - but added that the Trust's argument that to grant licences for badger culling, "would prompt rather than prevent the spread of disease within an area" was "arguable" but that the issue was "important" (See FG 8th August)
Lord Justice Laws said that neither of the Badger Trust's other two arguments was valid.

August 24th 2012 ~ "we are doing everything we can to support and protect those individuals that have been named."

Consternation today is reported in Farmers Weekly after a "Coalition of Badger Action Groups" has published the names of three farmers, details of their businesses, addresses and mobile phone numbers. The three have been described as the organisers of syndicates that will be responsible for culling badgers in Somerset and Gloucestershire. NFU policy director Martin Haworth is quoted: "We are very disappointed this has happened and we are doing everything we can to support and protect those individuals that have been named."
Meanwhile in Cornwall, the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) is the latest organisation to call on its supporters to take "any legal means necessary" which, says the "this is Cornwall" website
"appears designed to intimidate any farmers involved".
Sadly, readers' comments seem to illustrate the gulf between those whose response to farmers who are trying to protect their farm animals is hatred and intimidation, and those who recognise that the real enemy is the bTB bacterium.

August 24th 2012 ~ "We can visit the moon but we can't prevent the spread of this disease. How is this possible?"

Interesting report in Atlantic Farm Focus of the work done by a businessman, Serge Auray, and a microbiology expert and professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Montreal, Sylvain Quessy, to produce an effective disinfectant to guard against pathogens. Tests have shown that it protects against H1N1 in one minute, bacteria in two minutes, and fungi in three.
"In comparison, standard household cleaners such as Lysol or Clorox take 10 minutes of contact time to achieve that. And Thymox is also non-toxic, biodegradable, and smells nice to boot."
At present, it seems that Thymox is available only in Canada.

August 23rd 2012 ~ The new "Badger Welfare Association" asks for common sense cooperation from all sides to "try and solve this cancer of the countryside"

There are many farmers who care about badger welfare - and who are aghast at the suffering that bTB is inflicting on increasing numbers. Derek Mead and Bryan Hill have set up the Badger Welfare Association to plead for a common sense approach. The Devon farmer, Bryan Hill, has been studying badgers in conjunction with bovine TB for 14 years. ( e.g.see below) And as Mr Mead says
" .. it's not acceptable for society at large to have a core of TB in the countryside - not only affecting badgers and cattle, but, deer, pigs, sheep, cats and human beings"
And as the ever-watchful and well informed bovinetb.blogspot.co.uk points out, this "new farmer initiative seeks to identify unhealthy badgers" rather than take pot shots indiscriminately at badgers who may be perfectly healthy.
"PCR used on badger setts is now a real time test, validated (which means capable of repetition) by three different laboratories in two countries, the research peer reviewed and published.."
Read the post

August 2012 ~ bTB in alpacas PCR Proof of Concept Study Update

The excellent www.alpacatb.org website, now has a very encouraging report on the PCR Proof of Concept study. (Word) This study was privately funded by many of us to investigate the potential use for PCR technology to detect M. bovis in samples from infected alpacas.As the website says:
"... If you are a camelid owner, have an interest in the future of the Camelid Industry and want to help defeat bTB, please make a donation - please do not leave it to someone else - your alpacas and llamas need your help NOW."
The AHVLA are now keen to undertake a second phase of tests on cases where the TB lesions are less pronounced, to investigate the level at which detection is still possible. The second phase will only take about a month to complete - but sadly for animal health policy in the UK, private donations are still essential for this work to be done just as they were for the first stage. If you have an interest in defeating this disease by means of PCR, please do visit www.alpacatb.org

July 15th 2012 ~ What resources will be dedicated to developing a test that allows for the rapid identification of infected badgers?

A month ago we reported on"An Inter-Laboratory Validation of a Real Time PCR Assay to Measure Host Excretion of Bacterial Pathogens, Particularly of Mycobacterium bovis" which described
" the first example of a multi-laboratory validation of a real time PCR assay for the detection of mycobacteria in environmental samples..."
Progress is always agonisingly slow - but this sort of work gives us more hope than anything else we have seen lately. Of Northern Ireland's new approach involving testing live badgers - vaccinating and releasing the test-negative badgers and removing the test-positive ones - the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Michelle O'Neill said:
"This balanced approach would avoid killing healthy badgers and could lead in time to a healthier badger population incapable of transmitting TB to cattle. . Timing of the start of any field work is dependent on the successful completion of the necessary preparatory actions, but I hope it will be as early as possible next year." see www.northernireland.gov.uk
But this cannot work unless the test is effective. As the Irish Government's Dec 2011 policy document on badgers says:
"Despite considerable research in both Ireland and the U.K. no test on live badgers has proven efficacious in reliably detecting TB infected badgers and thus culling remains the only method of control currently available."
For the imaginative NI policy to work, the use of a reliable trap-side test is vital and one can only hope that adequate resources are being directed at what the Real Time PCR Assay paper above refers to as "Field studies required to determine how best to apply the assay for population-level bTB surveillance in wildlife."
See also email from Matthew at Bovinetb.blogspot.

July 12th 2012 ~ The Badger Trust's legal challenge has failed

(See the Farmers Guardian's account). Mr Justice Ouseley delivered his verdict just after 10am this morning.
The Badger Trust has indicated that it is considering an appeal.
The DEFRA spokesman said:
"We are pleased with the judgement. No one wants to cull badgers but last year bovine TB led to the slaughter of over 26,000 cattle and to help eradicate the disease it needs to be tackled in badgers.."
Defra's counsel Nigel Pleming had argued that it "couldn't be clearer" that the purpose of the badger cull policy was to "prevent the spread of disease".
The "Humane Society International UK" expressed disappointment at the verdict and said its complaint to the Bern Convention was "now the badgers' last hope". The reaction of the National Beef Association was put into words by its Assistant Director, Joanne Pugh :
".. it would have been heartbreaking if a further delay had been created. We cannot tackle TB with cattle measures alone, something Mr Justice Ouseley acknowledged during the High Court proceedings. ..."
News report links fromGoogle are here.

July 10th 2012 ~ Northern Ireland "the decision taken by the minister strikes a balance between pushing forward a much needed eradication campaign and ensuring that our indigenous badger population is retained."

Reaction to the news that Northern Ireland is to start testing live badgers (see below) from FarmingLife.com :
"... There is no doubt that the decision taken by the minister strikes a balance between pushing forward a much needed eradication campaign and ensuring that our indigenous badger population is retained.
Of course, the reality is that by removing infected badgers from the countryside, those remaining have the prospect of living longer and healthier lives.
So this is a win: win scenario for both cattle and badgers...."
In a separate Farming Life article today, Northern Ireland Badger Group spokesman, Mike Rendle is quoted:
" ... we believe the minister's plan is an appropriate and measured approach to clarifying the role of wildlife in this disease...Killing any badgers will be distasteful to many but the proposed trap-test-vaccinate/remove programme is likely to be the most environmentally benign and scientifically valid option. The minister has given assurances that no healthy badgers will be removed. This announcement should not be interpreted as a green light to interfere with badgers. Indiscriminate removal of badgers by any means, and on any scale, is an ill-considered, high risk strategy as well as a criminal offence. These activities will only serve to undermine the considerable investment and good faith required to make this proposal a success"

July 7th 2012 ~ BVA's concerns about the future of veterinary laboratories in Wales and a plea for the option of a badger cull to tackle bovine TB to be put back on the table.

See the press release for the British Veterinary Association. Carl Padgett is quoted:
".. I urge my colleagues to do their utmost to support the roll-out of the vaccination policy in the Intensive Action Area.
However, we hope the option of a badger cull remains on the table for consideration as the TB picture continues to develop, to work alongside vaccination and cattle measures and give us the chance to fight TB without one hand tied behind our backs"
Read press release in full

July 5th 2012 ~ Northern Ireland: "This approach will focus on removing diseased badgers and protecting uninfected ones."

The Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister has announced that officials will test badgers, vaccinating and releasing those that test negative and euthanising those that test positive.
Ulster Farmers Union president Harry Sinclair is quoted: "It is pointless to continue with the current situation where cattle go down with TB, the animals are slaughtered, and the farm re-stocks and eventually goes down again with TB because the disease remained on the farm in wildlife.
Whilst the minister's announcement is a tangible step forward, farmers will be concerned that it could entail a lengthy five-year research programme. It is our view that the programme should be regularly evaluated and if the results are favourable then the entire project should be rolled out across the industry...."
See Belfast Telegraph

July 4th 2012 ~ The BVA calls for culling in Wales if vaccination is seen not to be working

Farmers Guardian : "The British Veterinary Association made a plea last night (Tuesday, July 3) for badger culling in Wales to be revisited if the on-going bovine TB vaccination programme fails to deliver.
The call came from BVA president, Carl Padgett, at the association's annual dinner in Cardiff - attended by John Griffiths, the Welsh Government's Environment Minister with responsibility for TB eradication.
He said a healthy future in Wales must include tackling endemic disease and top of the priority list had to be bovine tuberculosis...." target="_blank" Read in full

27th June 2012 ~ Many who will vote are not only uninvolved members of the public but also will perhaps not have a very clear grasp of the painful issues involved

The Daily Telegraph is running a poll with the headline "Thousands of badgers face being killed illegally in TB cull". Since the Daily Telegraph must be aware that many who will be moved to vote are likely to be members of the public unaware of the horribly painful issues involved, warmwell readers may feel that this is an extraordinary case of a leading question cynically looking for a politically correct answer.
Certainly, it would be a great help to farmers in Somerset and Gloucestershire if you had a minute to vote in this poll and pass it on to others who might like to express their opinion. You only have to tick a box.

26th June 2012 ~ "If you want to stop the spread, you have to reduce the transmission ... from badger to badger and cattle to cattle." Nigel Pleming QC

At the Judicial Review, the Badger Trust with its barrister, David Wolfe QC, are arguing on three grounds to overturn DEFRA's decision:

1. that it will not meet the strict legal test of "preventing the spread of the disease" but may in fact increase it;
   that DEFRA's cost impact assessment is "flawed" and
   the licensee, Natural England, has "no legal power to issue the licences" to cull badgers.

"....The trend of cattle TB incidence in England has been rising for 25 years and the areas infected by TB has spread. There is clearly evidence that there is an increase in incidence. If you want to stop the spread, you have to reduce the transmission ... from badger to badger and cattle to cattle."

25th June 2012 ~ "Judge: It seems 'a little odd' to be only permitted to kill domestic animals if wildlife animals also causing spread."

Alistair Driver is following the Badger Trust Judicial Review case today. If you have a Twitter account, it is worth keeping an eye on @AlistairDriver (Farmers Guardian), who is tweeting as he watches the progress of the Badger cull Judicial Review at the High Court . At one point he writes,
"Judge scratches head as Badger Trust lawyer goes deep into methodology of Defra badger cull costings to highlight alleged flaws"
adding that the Badger Trust is arguing that the Defra impact assesssment is based on cost assumptions that might not hold true "eg costings based on 'free shooting' in pilots but this cd be ruled out and replaced by more expensive cage trapping." Read @AlistairDriver

23rd June 2012 ~ "It's absolutely disheartening, terrible... There is absolutely no sense in not dealing with the diseased population of badgers."

Farming Today This Week on bovine TB
Listen again (from 2.20) on www.bbc.co.uk We hear the Welsh Chief Vet on the badger vaccination pilot in Pembrokeshire, information about badger culling in Ireland, how the Swiss had no infected wildlife when they slaughtered a third of their cattle herd in the 1950s to bring TB under control. Dr Paul Livingstone from the New Zealand animal health board discusses the NZ strategy of killing infected wildlife: 4-6 million hectares of possum control every year - by dropping poison from the air. He admits that there has been public opposition to the use of a particular toxin (presumably the notorious 1080)
During the programme Anna Hill visits several farmers. One with with a closed dairy herd, a "passion for animals" a zoologist by training. He lost 74 cows, shot last week. The last time TB had been in the herd was 1956. He talks about the disastrous financial losses incurred but
" ...It's not just the financial impact; it's the emotional impact; it's the impact on me, my family, my team, my herd manager - some of the cows that were shot last week started over 15 years ago when he started. It's absolutely disheartening, terrible....
There is absolutely no sense in not dealing with the diseased population of badgers... "
Listen in full

21st June 2012 ~ Another group...

In Prime Minister's Questions yesterday (William Hague in charge) another predictably urgent bTB question (particularly in view of the Judicial Review, brought by the Badger Trust, in the High Court next Monday and Tuesday) was met with another predictably bland answer
Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con): My constituent, Ian Tapp, has now lost 300 cattle to bovine TB, and that scourge has been exacerbated ....will my right hon. Friend reassure my livestock farmers that, when it comes to disease control regulations, there will be proportionality and nothing that is likely to detract from their livelihood?
Mr Hague replied with the usual phrases; Bovine TB a "devastating disease" , "one of the most serious challenges facing the British cattle farming industry", "26,000 cattle were compulsorily slaughtered", "Cattle measures continue to be the foundation of our TB control programme" - but he added
" it is clear that those alone are not sufficient in some areas"
Mr Stride was advised to "stand by for a further announcement tomorrow". The "further announcement" today was to herald in yet another new " Advisory Group" - for England; this time not called TBEG or TBAG - but TBEAG
The latest group will be a subgroup of the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England and
"brings independent experts from outside government together with the chief veterinary officer and civil servants to make direct recommendations to ministers.."
It will meet "next month" and be chaired by John Cross, current chairman EBLEX. (See also DEFRA and the Farmers Guardian)
We look forward to hearing more about the "independent experts from outside government".
( It is hard - not to say heartbreaking - to remember such similar questions and answers from 2003 Hansard nearly ten years ago.)

June 20th 2012 ~ IDEXX M. bovis test offers a fast, three-hour protocol that delivers objective, quantitative results compatible with typical laboratory data management systems.

See www.idexx.com
"... this marks the first time the organization has certified an antibody test for the detection of bovine tuberculosis (TB). Based on a stringent independent review, the IDEXX M. bovis Ab Test was validated and certified by the OIE as fit for the purposes defined in the kit insert......offers a fast, three-hour protocol that delivers objective, quantitative results compatible with typical laboratory data management systems."
This is an antibody test but it is worth noting that "its easy-to-use ELISA format requires no specialized training or handling requirements and can be automated for high-volume use."
Interesting too that the test can make use of serum or plasma samples that have already been collected to check for other diseases.

June 14th 2012 ~ "the first example of a multi-laboratory validation of a real time PCR assay for the detection of mycobacteria in environmental samples."

Please see bovinetb.blogspot.co.uk
"... the logical next step after that would be to use PCR to identify infected badger setts.
Ex WLU staff tell us that much of the resistance to culling badgers across wide areas using mathematical models could be negated if more confidence could be given to the disease status of the badgers themselves. ...."
Read in full and as Matthew drily puts it, "...Will someone please contact Brian May, the RSPCA, Jack Reedy and Secret World. In no particular order of course, but perhaps include Jim Paice too - his department may be interested. Or not."

June 8th 2012 ~ "To cull, vaccinate or both? What is the best way to tackle bTB in badgers?" Alistair Driver examines both culling and vaccination

Farmers Guardian He asks, "To cull, vaccinate or both? What is the best way to tackle bTB in badgers?" and the article considers:

June 7th 2012 ~"I'm not a badger-hater, but I abhor the fact that members of wildlife organisations have a greater say on how the countryside is run than I do. I'm the one that lives here." David Bevan

The farmer featured in the video made by Chris Chapman "Mayday at Heolfawr Cross" who now has to wait for two clear tests, which will take at least four months, before he can consider restocking, is quoted in the Carmarthan Journal
""In the end I will be left with two cows and a calf. I can't go and be anything else. There's no way I can go out and buy pedigree cows because the wildlife is still going to harbour a residual source of infection.
Pedigree breeding in this area is a nonsense. Why is the life of a diseased animal worth more than the life of a diseased cow?
They're going to take out cows and leave the diseased badgers.
All around us there are farms going down. Farms that have never got TB - we are going down like dominoes one after the other.
There are hundreds of cows that have been lost in this area in the last month. How is it acceptable that all this money is being spent protecting an animal that is diseased?"
As a concern, the vulnerability of the cattle and their genetics is being ignored as is evidenced by the removal of three White Park from Dinefwr, an ancient and historical breed connected with the history of Wales and the Princes of Deheubarth, whose involvement in the cultural, progression and laws are noted in the Mabinogion. This breed of cattle today number about 360 breeding females.
There are approximately 1,000 giant panda left in the world. If we were killing three giant Panda, the world would be in uproar and yet nothing is done or said because they're only cows. Why?
I'm not a badger-hater, but I abhor the fact that members of wildlife organisations have a greater say on how the countryside is run than I do. I'm the one that lives here."
Read in full

June 4th 2012 ~ "As a member of the animal welfare group I am really affronted they have done it this way and I cannot see any good coming of it."

The Western Morning News today quotes Julie Girling, a South West Tory MEP, Conservative chief whip and the party's agriculture spokesman at the European Parliament. The story follows the news that the Humane Society International (HSI) has lodged a "serious complaint" against the UK government proposals to license two trial culls in September.
"HSI supporters say the Coalition proposals to license free shooting by farmers breaches the 30-year-old Bern Convention."
Mrs Girling, who is also a member of the European Parliament's Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals, has told the campaigners to "butt out" of the debate over how to control the disease and leave it to the people affected.
"These sort of things don't help and there is no reason for the heavy hand of the EU to intervene. You have to ask yourself how much a Danish MEP and a member from the South East of England know about TB in the South West and those who confront it every day."
Read the WMN article in full

June 4th 2012 ~ "....the AHB is enthusiastic to see them play a key role in the complete eradication of bovine TB from New Zealand."

As this optimistic article from www.voxy.co.nz told its readers, "The questions from the floor showed these young farmers have sound knowledge of the devastation that bovine TB can cause to farmers' livelihoods.......the national TB control strategy ...over the next 15 years, aims to eradicate the disease from wild animals, mainly possums, across one quarter of the country's TB risk areas."

May 31st 2012 ~ Badger cull trial is our last chance to put right decades of inaction (WMN)

The Western Morning News quotes Bill Harper of the National Beef Association's TB committee, and a Cornish beef farmer.
"... TB has done more to ruin farmer-consumer relations than any other issue. It is stoking passions and wrecking efforts to break the hold this disease has on our countryside....Farmers do not want to eliminate the UK's badger population - just reduce numbers in highly infected areas. They have already invested hundreds of hours of labour in testing their cattle. Now those in the two Badger Cull Pilot areas are prepared to finance the employment of licensed, experienced marksmen to humanely shoot stationary badgers in these highly infected areas.
Many ask why there is no official vaccination programme. In cattle this is against EU law. In the badger population it is simply unviable. Why? Current trapping performances have resulted in the vaccination of no more than 25% of the surveyed badger population at a cost of around £4,000 a badger. Also, to be effective the vaccine has to be administered annually and it does not cure those already infected..."
Read article

May 31st 2012 ~ Christl Donnelly of Imperial College London and Rosie Woodroffe of the Institute of Zoology, have published a paper in the journal Nature ...

Extract from the paper in Nature:
"Extensive badger culls may reduce cattle TB but complex disease dynamics mean that killing too few animals can actually increase it. However, culling too many badgers risks local extinction, contravening the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. Natural England, the agency monitoring the cull, will therefore be required to set minimum and maximum cull numbers for each licence. But the effects are difficult to predict."
We have just received the following comment from a pedigree cattle farmer:
"I am thinking about writing to the Bern Convention about the lack of protection of cattle.....
I have tried to get to the bottom of the whole affair reading several papers and what I have found the most worrying is how "eminent scientists" bend their science according to political pressure which is the result of a couple of "celebrities" gone over the edge...
I haven't seen that Donnelly and Woodroffe have any idea about livestock diseases other than playing with the computer. They screwed up BSE/vCJD as well as FMD and yet they are at it again."

May 28th 2012 ~ Useful factual website - new information

Bovinetb.info looks at - and updates information on - Costs | New Zealand | Ireland | Wales | Vaccination | Organic farming | Testing | RBCT | There is a contact page for more information and feedback. Latest information includes new maps and temperature charts.

May 26th 2012 ~ "...cattle farmers, veterinarians, animal health workers and public health meat inspectors. Children and infants, the elderly, immuno-compromised persons and persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV/AIDS) are also susceptible"

A warning from Dr. Cedric Lazarus, Regional Livestock Specialist, attached to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN) www.sknvibes.com/news He forgets to mention people's susceptible pets.
For those concerned about wonderful campaigner Dianne Summers who, it will be remembered, was diagnosed with bTB on April 11th (the spoligotype showing it was caught from her own infected alpacas), an update on her difficult situation can be seen on the alpacatb.com website - which also reports on the latest TB cases in alpacas, including the 398 alpacas culled in a herd in Sussex (here). There has been a great deal of media interest in Dianne's TB m.bovis infection showing, as it does, the reality of the danger to humans of the bovine form of TB. Extract:
"....I was then put on drugs to sort out the side effects and once they had cleared then the drugs could be reintroduced one at a time until we discover which drug caused the problem. Btb in humans isn't a quick fix - and it isn't a case of 2 weeks of aspirin and you will be right as rain..." Read in full (pdf)

26th May 2012 ~a "fire which is spreading ever outwards" Bill Harper

South West farmer Bill Harper spoke at the Beef Expo 2012. He is quoted by the Farmers Guardian. Reader comments are interesting, particularly this from "the Newt" who once again tries to inject some hard facts and links to scientific studies into the polarised debate by pointing out the low success rate of the BCG vaccine on both people and animals unless they are very young
".. soon after birth mammals are exposed to other naturally occurring mycobacterium species (that are relatively harmless) in the wild which cause an immune response, this then causes the body to be immune to the mild form (attenuated vaccine) of Mycobacterium bovis used in the BCG vaccine...how do you vaccinate newborn badgers in the wild when they spend the first six weeks of life underground? ... ."
And one reader grimly commented, "Can the anti-badger cull lobby not see that every day that they succeed in delaying a cull results in more infection and a more widespread and bloodier final solution to the problem?"

24th May 2012 ~ Improved Skin Test for Differential Diagnosis of Bovine Tuberculosis by the Addition of Rv3020c-Derived Peptides

This research was published in February in Clin Vaccine Immunol April 2012 vol. 19 no. 4 620-622
ABSTRACT
A peptide cocktail derived from the mycobacterial antigens ESAT-6, CFP-10, and Rv3615c allowed differentiation between Mycobacterium bovis-infected and M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-vaccinated cattle when used as a skin test reagent for a "DIVA" test (i.e. a test capable of differentiating infected and uninfected vaccinated animals). Addition of the antigen Rv3020c improves the diagnostic sensitivity without compromising specificity in the face of BCG or Johne's disease vaccination.
Informed comment would be very welcome.

23rd May 2012 ~ New Zealand.

A retired deer farmer in the Hokonui Hills area in the South Island of New Zealand has won an award for "leading the fight against bovine tuberculosis"
"....when Mr Gilmour joined the committee 20 years ago there were 56 infected cattle and deer herds in Southland, but now there were two...."
The new strategy aims to have the area "TB-free by 2026" and would "focus on all wild animals carrying Tb, such as ferrets, stoats, pigs and possums." See Stuff..co.nz

22nd May 2012 ~ Chris Chapman tells the Western Morning News today that it is the increasing loss of the nation's all-important agricultural gene-pool that concerns him most.

The WMN today reports on Chris Chapman's film "Mayday at Heolfawr Cross" He says:
"What is most astonishing is the loss of genetics. We carry on killing farm animals and compensating farmers - but what we are really doing is watering down the genetic pool.
The loss of a champion bull is a tragedy for the farmer - but it is also yet another vital link which has gone for ever in these important breeds.
I only put the film up on You Tube on Sunday and it's already had nearly 1,500 viewings. I think why it's suddenly mushroomed is to do with fact that it hinges on the loss of genetics.
Two decades ago Longhorns were rare breed cattle - but things improved and they are now a minority breed. Now we've got a situation where we have a farmer who has been improving this amazing breed - and winning shows - is suddenly being told today that he will lose his whole herd."
( It is difficult not to find the tone of the latest and related post from bovinetb.blogspot. as entirely understandable as the facts given are true.)

May 22nd ~ M. bovis infection in badgers has been the subject of a long term ecological and epidemiological study

This is particularly true of Woodchester Park where the humane and careful studying of badgers, badger-cattle contacts and of bTB infection has been ongoing for several years. Extract:
"...previous studies have suggested that contaminated badger urine is likely to pose the greatest risks of transmission to other species, particularly cattle (e.g. MAFF, 1979). The observation in the present study that a similar proportion of culture positive badgers excreted bacilli in faeces, reaffirms the potential importance of badger latrines (see Hutchings and Harris, 1999) and faecal contamination of cattle feed and facilities (see Garnett et al., 2002) in providing opportunities for transmission."
As an experienced countryman wrote to warmwell this week on the subject of badger urine and faeces spreading bTB to cattle:
"... I have been saying for twenty years that modern farming practices and machinery were a part of the problem; forage harvesters in silage and maze are no more than vacuum cleaners. Old fashioned knife mowers do not pick the faeces up."
An article in yesterday's Western Daily Press appeared to be encouraging credulous readers to believe - but without quotation or reference - that "new research" had "poured cold water" on claims linking badgers to the spread of bTB. Many in the thick of the misery must have considered this article in the Western Daily Press mischievous and misleading journalism at its most crass.(UPDATE - the story in the WDP seems to refer to esearch into the effect on bTB diagnosis of liver fluke infestation. See BBC which says a little more about the research but notes: "cattle who have both liver fluke and bovine TB still test positive for bovine TB" WIth no mention of infected badgers' high infectivity, the BBC's conclusion that the findings "will inevitably raise anew the question of whether badger culling... is really needed" seems as illogical and misleading as that of the WDP.

19th May 2012 ~ Quotations from yesterday's bTB debate at the Farmers Guardian

The debate was very good. Owing to the nature of an online debate with several participants, some of the comments appeared "out of sync" The contribution of Nick Fenwick stands out for its humanity and informed comment. (For Alistair Driver's summary of the whole debate, see below .) Nick Fenwick begins with an observation very close to our hearts:
"The impact of bTB has been described by our Chief Vet as like the 2001 Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in slow motion, and that's about as accurate a description of the problem as you can get: It tears people's lives apart both economically and emotionally, only the effects go on for years..."
With FG's permission we reproduce the transcript. Nick Fenwick's contribution to the debate here.       See also Gareth Enticott,       Carl Padgett     Jack Reedy      Adam Quinney      Online debate readers' comments The transcripts show that the FG debate contained some of the best current thinking about the issue, delivered with admirable calm and politeness. Many thanks to the Farmers Guardian and especially to the chairman, Alistair Driver.

19th May 2012 ~ FG's Alistair Driver sums up yesterday's debate

He begins by highlighting the fact that both farming and veterinary industry leaders spoke about the "long-term, lasting benefits" delivered by the culling of badgers in hotspots.
The Director of agricultural policy for the Farming Union of Wales, Nick Fenwick, explained how the scientific evidence based on further analysis of the trial areas had made a difference to the 2007 ISG report's controversial conclusion that culling badgers could 'not meaningfully contribute' to controlling bTB. Further analysis had "changed this to the extent that culling can now be shown to not only save large numbers of cattle lives, but also have a net financial benefit" See FG Summary

May 18th 2012 ~ "A MAJOR row is brewing...." Farmers Guardian

Alistair Driver in the Farmers Guardian reports that the NFU has said that DEFRA's measures to clamp down on movements within Sole Occupancy Authorities (SOAs) and its the decision to end all new SOAs after July 1st was "disproportionate and unexpected" and said that Defra had not held discussions beforehand with its livestock stakeholder group or the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England, "repeating the poor communications of previous TB announcements."
NFU livestock chairman Charles Sercombe is quoted:
"We don't feel the change would meaningfully improve disease control - but will increase costs"
The NFU has written to DEFRA saying that although farmers had been expecting SOAs to be abolished at some point, they had expected another year's grace.
Richard Macdonald's Independent Farming Regulation Task Force recommends that
"A simple system is likely to be more effective; rules that are clearly understood are more likely to be observed and the information provided more accurate"
There is now, since the SOAs enable farmers to move animals without a six-day standstill, likely to be a surge of applications for the very SOAs MacDonald hoped to see sensitively phased out. The apparent lack of understanding and indeed all the tough new bovine TB measures now imposed on the farming community - would appear to go against what is said in the Introduction of the Macdonald report:
"We want to move from an environment where the default is to regulate to an approach based on trust, responsibility and partnership. Indeed, if this does not all happen, we will largely end up back where we started!"
(See report)

May 17th 2012 ~ Déjà Vu - from over 6 years ago....

Saturday January 28th 2006 ~ ".... ironic that those who attempt to exonerate badgers of being the reservoir of TB infection for cattle show such little concern for the suffering those badgers with TB undergo"

Warmwell.com is, and has always been, an unpaid, independent observer with no financial interest in any of the issues covered. We watch with increasing concern the ever increasing politicisation of bodies that should be impartial and expert. The fact that many tough, experienced family farmers will now openly admit to being frightened of DEFRA's bungling and bullying ways is a matter of deep worry.
Animal disease policy, now bovine TB in particular - instead of being dealt with by vets able to inform government of observed facts - has become such a political hot potato that, while shrill voices carry on arguing, cattle that are as yet uninfectious are slaughtered in their thousands and ill badgers have been dying in the most unpleasant circumstances.
One vet who has spoken out is D.J.B.Denny MRCVS. His letter in yesterday's Farmers' Guardian should be read in full It explains why badgers are both the victims and the villains in the spread of bovine TB. He concludes by asking
Extract:"..... Is it hypocritical of Martin Hancox and his ilk to allow the suffering of the infected badgers, never mind the mass slaughter of cattle and the despair of the farmers concerned, to be further prolonged? ." read in full

May 17th 2012 ~ "Bishop calls for speedy badger cull"

See Lords Hansard for yesterday's 5th day debate on the Queen's Speech. The Bishop of Hereford said
".....I also feel compelled to register the continuing urgent need for the vexed and hugely damaging matter of bovine TB to be properly addressed. The industry and most vets remain committed to a badger cull as one of the necessary measures to control the spread of the disease, while also supporting further work and research on vaccinations as a critical piece of the picture. Unless the primary wild vector is tackled, there will be no chance of eradicating this dreadful disease, even if everything else possible is done."
Lord Patten added
"......"Bishop calls for speedy badger cull". They will like that very much in my part of Somerset..."
See debate

May 16th 2012 ~ "The judicial review does not prevent us from continuing to plan for an autumn start to the piloting of our badger control policy." James Paice

See Hansard yesterday "Natural England will process any licence applications but do not plan to issue any licences until the outcome of the judicial review is confirmed..."

May 15th 2012 ~ "Why aren't the Badger Trust being held responsible for the spread of bTB through badgers..."

"...And paying for the consequences of their actions in stopping us from getting to grips with the problem?" asks a reader in the comment section of the Farmers Guardian. It follows Alistair Driver's article Farmers must find 'innovative ways' to deal with TB budget cuts. (May 10th)
As is so often the case, the readers' comments coming from those with first hand experience of farming and of having to endure the dread of testing - and often its aftermath - attempt to express the frustration felt at those with no such experience - such as someone claiming that farmers have "opened themselves and their herds to infection"
There are excellent comments in which knowledge, reasoned arguments and references are irrefutable - and there is also some extraordinarily strong writing that yells its grief from the page. Recommended but heartbreaking. (Link) See also the excellent post at bovinetb.blogspot
"........we are the butt of the same old, same old mantra. bTB is all our fault. It is dirty farmers, lax farming practises, cattle movements and fraud which cause bTB. Not only is this a slight on the whole of our industry but it is plain wrong."

May 15th 2012 ~ "a complex mixture of science, practicalities, legal concerns, politics and public opinion."

The Farmers Guardian will be discussing the issues surrounding badger culling and vaccination "Badgers and Bovine TB - the way forward?" in a live Farmers Guardian web debate beginning at 1pm, Friday, May 18 on the Farmers Guardian website.
The panel includes Gareth Enticott, Cardiff University, Nick Fenwick, Farmers Union of Wales director of agricultural policy, Adam Quinney, NFU vice president and Warwickshire farmer with first hand experience of bTB and Jack Reedy, Badger Trust spokesman. More at www.farmersguardian.com today.

May 15th 2012 ~ Jim Paice says the legal fight by campaigners to block the badger cull will mean marksmen will not be granted licences to kill until a judge rules on "legality".

The Press Association quotes him
"The judicial review does not prevent us from continuing to plan for an autumn start to the piloting of our badger control policy.
Natural England will process any licence applications but do not plan to issue any licences until the outcome of the judicial review is confirmed."

May 13th 2012 ~ " These cattle that have gone today, I've known them, their mothers, their grandmothers, their great grandmothers... I feel absolutely angry at my own impotence that I haven't been able to protect these cattle...."

"Mayday at Heolfawr Cross" on YouTube was filmed by Chris Chapman on May 1st. The calm and dignified despair of the farmer, Dai Bevan, sitting in his farm in Carmarthenshire, is portrayed with extraordinary tenderness. He tells how in the past he has loved watching the deer and badgers around the farm - healthy badgers and their cubs "rolling down banks" - but those had been healthy badgers who were no threat to the pedigree Longhorn Cattle who were his life.
On Mayday he had to choose which cow was to die first:
"I knew if she didn't go first, she'd be absolutely terrified."
Those who vaguely feel that the systematic killing of bTB reactor cows is somehow not as terrible as killing infectious badgers might try watching this film. It doesn't take long to watch.
"...At the moment I feel absolutely angry at my own impotence that I haven't been able to protect these cattle. I am absolutely not in control...There is nothing I can do that will help the situation. They haven't been killed, they've been murdered.. a group of people that are vociferous ..their opinion obviously counts more than mine.... These people are denying gravity, .. They're in absolute denial. Why is a cow's life worth so much less than a wild animal?..."
As Mr Bevan so gently says, "It's wrong. It's not decent."
The vet on the film talks of his own family's losses and the lack of support "and even interest" in the greater part of the population for agriculture in Britain, suggesting too that conservation groups might have their priorities skewed
"We need food, we need wildlife; the two have to be in existence together...we run a serious risk of losing both."
Vets know what needs to be done - "but politics is standing in the way" Watch the short film.

May 9th 2012 ~ A leading agricultural solicitor has hit out at tough new bovine TB measures to be imposed on the farming community.

"Yet more legislation and bureaucracy" is the opiinion expressed by David Kirwan from North West law firm Kirwans. See Farmers Guardian today. Mr Kirwan said the only effect the tough penalties would have would be to make financial conditions even more difficult for the long-suffering farming community.

May 2nd 2012 ~ Defra has "strengthened measures" - and will reduce compensation for TB reactors as well as make changes to cattle movements.

The changes announced today will take effect in England from 1 July 2012.
A sliding scale will now reduce compensation paid to owners of TB reactor cattle. Compensation will be deducted by 25%when a test is overdue by more than 60 days, 50% for tests that are more than 90 days late or 95% for tests that are overdue by 180 days. There will be a new category for young pedigree beef animals (aged 0-6 months) Dairy calved animals category (pedigree and non-pedigree) will be split into two age bands - up to 7 years, and over 7 years.
Pedigree compensation rates will only be payable for animals with breeding potential, and only if owners of animals have full pedigree certificates and ID documentation, and even then only if a cattle passport is produced before the affected animal is removed for slaughter.
An "informal" consultation on these changes was apparently held in December 2011.
DEFRA says that, from 1 July, it will not approve or renew existing CTS links or SOAs applications if they include holdings in high and low TB risk areas.
The 30-day residency exemption will be removed, as well as revisions to the exemption covering cattle movements to agricultural shows. High TB risk herds will have to undergo pre-movement testing if cattle will be at the show for more than 24 hours and/or housed or kept inside at the showground. See DEFRA website today
Jim Paice says:
"... The farming community has shown it is willing to shoulder its share of the burden to tackle bovine TB... .."
(He did not mention who else was going to shoulder a share of the burden.)

May 2nd 2012 ~ Rugby to pilot badger vaccinations against TB

Rugby Borough Council has given permission to Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (WWT) to carry out a pilot vaccination on council owned land in the borough. Rugby Observer

May 1st 2012 ~ "I keep asking myself, am I going to be an old farmer and find nothing is being done?"

The Western Morning News quotes a young Almondsbury farmer whose family farm was shut down with TB two years ago and at the regular testing ever since loses two or three cows each time
""It's absolutely heartbreaking seeing your cows destroyed before your eyes. My grandfather died last year without having seen this disease stopped. For me it often seems there's no point in farming.
I keep asking myself, am I going to be an old farmer and find nothing is being done?
No one affected by bovine TB can expand or move forward."
He was talking to James Paice who agreed that bovine TB was the biggest challenge to the Government and the farming industry, and the cause of immense trauma and distress. Read article

April 28th 2012 ~ Professor Chris Pollock resigns from Welsh bovine TB board "I believe the chances of making progress have been reduced as a result of the changes being pursued by the current administration."

Professor Pollock, the Welsh administration's former chief scientific adviser is quoted by the Farmers Guardian:
"... Vaccination is effectively untried so you are exchanging an approach which has a track record of success in Ireland and elsewhere with one not really tried at all.
...in the scientific report the Minister commissioned there was a specific comment about the problems of using vaccination in an area where you obviously had a high incidence of disease.
Using vaccination in the targeted Intensive Action Area, where the level of infection in badgers is extremely high, in my view goes against the recommendations of his own scientific review...
Bovine TB is a very difficult disease to eradicate and there is no straightforward answer, Indeed, if there was we would not have the problems we have.
It needs concerted action on all fronts and I believe the policy of the previous coalition Welsh Assembly Government did have a reasonable chance of gaining some real progress.
But I believe the chances of making progress have been reduced as a result of the changes being pursued by the current administration."
Read in full

April 28th 2012 ~ "Transmission thus could occur not only to other domestic or wild species, but also to humans.." ProMed reports on Dianne Summers' bTB

See ProMed moderator comment. Extract: "Transmission thus could occur not only to other domestic or wild species, but also to humans in contact with an infected alpaca for example exhibited at an agricultural fair or petting zoo. The patient mentioned in the above news report likely inhaled aerosolized respiratory secretions of an alpaca with pulmonary tuberculosis.
Alpaca are thought to have been infected with Mb by contact with either infected alpaca, cattle, or local wildlife species, or via infected milk.
In the UK, TB has affected herds of all sizes, all well as alpaca kept as pets ( http://www.alpacatb.com/). Areas in the UK at high risk for alpaca TB are shown on a map at ( http://www.alpacatb.com/) Read in full.

April 26th 2012 ~ One of our greatest heroines, Dianne Summers, the courageous campaigner for camelids with bTB, now has bTB herself and has begun treatment.

Human treatment for TB m.bovis takes nine months and consists of a variety of drugtreatments with some unpleasant side effects - it is not a quick or simple fix. We hope Dianne will be able to recover and send her our very best wishes. It is horrible news and confirms the danger of this disease to humans.
Bovine TB blog says:
"Dianne's case underlines the reason why bTB must be taken seriously. Regular testing of sentinel cattle while studiously ignoring their message is a dangerous exercise...."
The post yesterday adds
" .. Public Health officials ..are basing their assumptions on past opportunities for transmission... HPA still quantify 'risk' to bTB by exposure to 'unpasteurised milk, foreign travel and inhabiting homeless shelters'. But exposure to the increasing amount of bacteria from 'environmental' sources is an unknown quantity. Neither Dianne Summers nor her alpacas have been exposed to any of HPA's "risk" opportunities ... Defra are not killing cattle for the benefit of the farming industry. Neither is this ultimate protection of infected wildlife anything other than a response to lobby cash....Dianne Summers is not the first to be affected and she will not be the last." Please read in full
Dianne's alpaca website has the latest news.

April 23rd 2012 ~ English badger cull to face High Court challenge

See FWi Caroline Stocks' article reports that a judge has told the Badger Trust that its application for a review had been successful.
"....The permission was granted on each of the three grounds requested by the Trust when it launched its appeal in February:

April 13th 2012 ~ DIVA test this year - but when will the EU lift the requirement for the skin test to be the test to confer OTF herd status?

In its September 2010 consultation on badger control, DEFRA revealed that it was co-funding a new research project SE3270 "Development of novel diagnostic strategies for the ante-mortem immunodiagnosis of bovine tuberculosis and Johne's Disease" Since the BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin, the human TB vaccine) sensitises cattle to the compulsory bTB skin test for some time after vaccination and can lead to a false positive result, the new DIVA test was being developed that could be used alongside the tuberculin skin test to confirm whether or not the animal really is infected.
DEFRA said in 2010, "Our aim is also to have the DIVA test approved by 2012" - but added in paragraph 63 of the same documents that...
"....Once a licensed cattle vaccine and effective DIVA test are available, the basis for declaring herds tuberculosis-free will need to change.... we will be using the strong scientific and technical evidence on the efficacy and safety of the cattle vaccine and the role of a DIVA test to request the necessary changes to EU legislation to lift the requirement for the skin test to be the only test to confer OTF herd status. Due to the need to change EU legislation, which is a lengthy process, we anticipate that a cattle vaccine and DIVA test could not be used in the field before 2015 at the earliest...."
Meanwhile, because of the "long process" the EU apparently requires, the slaughter continues and the misery increases.

April 13th 2012 ~ Very grim news from Scotland

The Farmers Guardian reports today on the compulsory slaughter of 60 cattle from a fully closed dairy herd in which no cattle have been brought in since 1988 .
"The outbreak on the farm at Ballencrieff, Bathgate, West Lothian, has been described as a 'mystery' and 'unclear', given the closed nature of the affected herd.... The Animal Health Veterinary Laboratory Agency is investigating the outbreak, which came to light when lesions were spotted by vets in a 13-year-old British Friesian cow sent for slaughter.
Both skin and gamma interferon tests were subsequently carried out on the whole herd, with a number of positive reactors identified in both screens...Scotland's official TB-free status will not be affected by this case... " read in full
Scotland has been considered a low risk area for bovine TB for many years. The last case was in January this year. Many feel that there is no wildlife reservoir so the source of this outbreak is a mystery at present.

April 12th 2012 ~ Update on camelid PCR testing project

See below from March 27th re the project to see if M bovis (in camelids) can be detected by using PCR. More details of the "PCR proof of concept study" can be seen on the www.alpacatb.com website under PCR. The required funds for the project were raised by donations.
With congratulations to all concerned, and especially to the remarkable Dianne Summers, we hear that the target number of samples for the Proof of Concept Study into PCR testing for TB in alpacas has now been reached and the project can go ahead.

April 7th 2012 ~ From a farmer in Wiltshire: "Farmers are just as human (or more so) as the rest of the population."

Re the story below about "Daisy"
"I believe the farmer's feelings in these circumstances are akin to those of the attentive wife who has prepared a meal ready for her husband when he comes home from work. He stays drinking with his mates in the pub, the meal is ruined and goes in the bin. The wife has lost nothing - the food has already been paid for, so it makes no difference financially whether it ends up in her husband or the bin. She is not being paid for her labour doing the preparation, so no loss there. There is no way she could be described as in love with the contents of a plate. Now will that wife see it that way? You bet she won't, so why should a farmer not get upset at seeing the waste of his resources, time and effort when animals are carted off as reactors, whatever degree of affection they may have for the individual animal. Farmers are just as human (or more so) as the rest of the population."
(Hear hear.) We have been told that "Daisy" was killed yesterday with her herdsman by her side, talking gently to her.

April 7th 2012 ~ "...this week they join the other 38,000 cattle victims which Defra are happy to kill annually"

Those few of us who try hard to see the escalating bTB problem from all sides can never forget the "on the ground" cost of the massive slaughter of reactors on farms. Many of these doomed animals have merely encountered the bacterium and fought it off - and this is often what the severe skin test reveals. But sometimes a story is particularly heartbreaking. For anyone who thinks "oh, cows aren't pets" and "they all get killed anyway", read the story on bovinetb.blogspot about a blind milking cow and her 'old granny' companion, treated like royalty by a big commercial dairy herd. ("Nah, that can't be right - farmers are all about money.")
"...Last august Daisy calved again, and mothered this calf as well as she did her first.
She wintered well with the rest of her herd mates and is in calf again. But last month both she and her companion, 'granny' became TB reactors. So this week they join the other 38,000 cattle victims which Defra are happy to kill annually..."
If, having read this story carefully, you don't feel anger at the lunacy of the "policy" as much as deep sorrow for all concerned, then there is nothing more to be said.

March 30th 2012 ~ Farming Union of Wales: "believe you have a duty to the Welsh farming industry to explain in detail the scientific and legal reasoning which underpinned your decision"

The Farmers' Union of Wales Press Release says that the Welsh Government's decision not to proceed with a cull was based on an anticipated reduction in confirmed incidences of 13.4% and that this figure was compared with the results of computer models of the impact of badger vaccination.
The FUW point out that
"there is currently no scientific, nor, in our opinion, legal basis for making such a direct comparison, since the scientific approaches used to produce such figures are wholly different" No badger vaccination trials have been completed and supposed results depend on computer modelling - but "when the same computer model is used to examine culling, it predicts reductions of 30 to 40 per cent."
Farmers throughout Wales, and particularly within the IAA, "have shown a significant commitment to the TB eradication programme, and had a reasonable expectation that a policy based upon the best predicted outcome would be implemented in the IAA," says the FUW.
(The validity of figures given in the media for the efficacy of vaccination were discussed at some length at bovinetb.blogspot.co.uk/ )

March 28th 2012 ~ 32,737 bovines slaughtered in 2010 as a result of the UK's bTB policy

Those whose concern for cattle, camelids and their distraught owners is as well developed as their concern for badgers and other potentially infected mammals are again directed to the bovinetb.blogspot The most recent post (March 24th) looks with worry at how badgers are being relocated fom bTB hotspots into other areas. We learn that a voluntary protocol "not devised or approved by Defra" (but no intervention by DEFRA either) "does not advise destruction of badgers who have had contact with a test positive badger"
The March 17 post reminds us that in November 2011, a memorandum by those involved in the most recent badger vaccine trials made it clear that the work to date
"…cannot tell us the degree of vaccine efficacy"; that "A definitive figure for efficacy could only be determined by field-testing the vaccine on a large scale over a long period of time. Several thousand badgers would need to be killed to determine the presence and severity of TB at detailed post-mortem examination"; and that "…we do not know how deployment of the badger vaccine in the field would affect TB incidence in cattle." See letter to Welsh Minister John Griffiths from the CLA, NFU and FUW 16th March

March 27th 2012 ~ TB and camelids

Once again, we recommend the website for alpaca owners Camelid TB Support & Research Group. One important update concerns the results of the long awaited > Validation of ante mortem Tb Tests in Camelids; another is a study on the Chembio Rapid Stat Pak Test which is the only blood test currently available to herds in a Tb breakdown situation. At present this is voluntary. The opening summary includes the following statement - which rather says it all.
"Over 95% of the animals with evidence of TB failed to produce skin test reactions, thus confirming concerns about the validity of this method for testing SAC. The findings suggest that serological assays may offer a more accurate and practical alternative for antemortem detection of camelid TB"
http://www.alpacatb.com/

March 27th 2012 ~ "the quicker we get all the samples - the faster we will know if M bovis (in camelids) can be detected by using PCR".

"PCR proof of concept study" details are also on the www.alpacatb.com website under PCR. The required funds for the project were raised by donations and the study is at a half way point. Dianne Summers writes:
"We have half the required number of alpacas that presented to the VLA with gross lesions. As soon as we have achieved ALL the samples - these will then be tested using PCR and we will then be given the results. We urge everyone to contact us if they have skin test or blood test camelid reactors that are going to be culled. We can then make arrangements for the samples of nasal swabs - Faeces and blood to be taken. We need to know BEFORE the camelid is culled. Details will be held in the strictest confidence. We know how distressing it is to have your beloved alpacas or llamas culled but this study is so important and the quicker we get all the samples - the faster we will know if M bovis can be detected by using PCR. A huge thank you again to all those that donated to this project."

March 26th 2012 ~ The centre-right think tank, Bow Group, is advising the Government to scrap badger cull plans

The Bow Group has
"unveiled a major paper urging the Government to reconsider plans to resume badger culling in England in autumn 2012, saying the culls, an attempt to control the spread of bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), are likely to be more costly and less practical to conduct than DEFRA believes."
The Research Secretary of the Bow Group is quoted as saying that the policy ".. will be costly for the Conservatives in political terms, not least in the marginal seats in which the culling trials are to be held."
Its paper entitled "Common Sense and Bovine TB " can be seen as a pdf file
Dr Ruth Watkins writes
"I see the Bow group are trying to persuade DEFRA not to cull badgers in England. I wondered if the Welsh application of vaccination in the IAA area in North Pembs might be modified slightly to include penside testing for antibody of badgers caught on TB infected farms.
Very few by any account would test positive for antibody (the same maker Chembio Stat Pak for badgers) and these few could be culled. Obviously vaccination would do these no good and they may be shedding high amounts of M bovis. Could objection be made to culling these few identified animals on farms where there is or has been TB in cattle? There would not be perturbation as so few would be culled. It would address Brian May's objections to widespread culling when the majority of culled animals would be playing no part in spread of M bovis to cattle."

March 26th 2012 ~ The president of the Welsh branch of the British Veterinary Association says there is no evidence about the efficiency of vaccinating badgers with the aim of eradicating bovine TB.

See BBC Wales video
"....Last week the Welsh government dropped controversial plans to cull badgers.
Bob Stevenson, who is also a former chair of the Cardiff regional TB eradication board, told BBC Radio Wales the decision by Wales' chief vet Christianne Glossop to back a vaccination was a change of emphasis rather than change of heart. ..."

March 12th 2012 ~ "Currently there is a serious imbalance in British wildlife ecology, and that involves two species implicated in bTB..."

A comment that has reached us that is worth serious consideration was made last week by someone who has read Ruth Watkins' important paper on bTB
"Currently there is a serious imbalance in British wildlife ecology, and that involves two species implicated in TB - deer and badger, both of which are enjoying a population explosion. Deer are destroying much of the woodland habitat of other wildlife, and Ruth makes passing reference to the destruction of the hedgehog population by badgers. Actually it is worse than that as they also destroy ground-nesting birds."
These points, with their reference to serious problems that are largely ignored and unacknowledged, are worth bearing in mind in relation to the article by Clive Aslet, mentioned below.

March 12th 2012 ~ "Some people are foolish enough to believe that the countryside is a wild place, where nature reaches its own balance. It isn't."

Clive Aslet's article in the Mail on Friday: Extract
"Bovine TB is a horrible disease. It's horrible for cattle, but equally so for the badgers who, sadly, help spread it. My first concern is for the daily farmers who have sometimes spent generations building up prime milking herds, only to see their livelihoods ruined ... But at least the cattle are properly cared for - or quickly destroyed - when the disease strikes. What happens to the badgers? They limp back to their setts, to infect other badgers and die painful deaths. ...
Some people are foolish enough to believe that the countryside is a wild place, where nature reaches its own balance. It isn't. There is virtually no wilderness in this country. Everything we see is there because human beings have either designed it, encouraged it or tolerated it.
Bill Oddie, and MPs Mary Creagh and Andrew Miller supported the Humane Society's complaint against a badger cull at an event in Westminster last month. Adult badgers have no natural predators other than Man..... We all love wildlife, but this is disproportionate. ...."Read in full
As Mr Aslet says, when an animal population becomes too big for the territory supporting it, it usually does become diseased. He expresses great sympathy for farmers, whose life is hard enough, but adds "I also weep for the badgers, made to suffer horribly through the weakness of human sentimentality and foolishness towards animals."

February 27th 2012 ~ Badger Trust's legal challenge today against Defra's decision to sanction a badger cull in England.

The FG reports:
"The badger charity will deliver papers to the High Court this afternoon (Monday, February 27) to initiate proceedings for a judicial review against Defra's decision to set up two pilot culls in West Somerset and West Gloucestershire..."
While many remain unsure that the method planned to control badgers is the best, it is hard not to be impressed by Anthony Gibson's reaction below: "Extract
"...One always hopes that at some stage in this sorry saga, concern for the welfare of animals will prevail... ... if they win - it will be a major setback to disease control which will, in time, result in the illness and deaths of vastly more badgers than will ever be humanely killed in the course of the official cull..."
More

February 27th 2012 ~ "blind prejudices" informing "proper research and evidence"

Viva's claim that hunts could be spreading bTB have been dismissed by DEFRA and by Jim Barrington, the animal welfare consultant for the Countryside Alliance. Mr Barrington said,
""In my 40 years working in animal welfare I have never seen or heard of Bovine TB being spread by hunts.
The pseudo-science Viva are using is to lay one piece of evidence over another and claim a false correlation. Farmers, government and animal welfare advocates have spent several decades trying to combat bovine TB and in all that time no-one has ever linked its spread with hunting.
As with so many people and groups who claim to represent the cause of animals, they are letting their own blind prejudices inform proper research and evidence, and in doing so are embarrassing themselves and the people who would otherwise be supportive of their viewpoint."
See FWi

February 19th/20th 2012 ~ Dr Ruth Watkins - Paper for discussion on Bovine TB in the UK

This is quite simply the best paper we have seen on the vexed subject of bovine TB. Written by an expert virologist who is not only herself a farmer of Welsh Black Cattle but whose farm is in a TB area, Dr Watkins writes:
"I would think about half the keepers of cattle in my parish have been down with BovineTB in the last 6 years or so, but when I first came here 11 years ago the vet told me there was no Bovine TB in this area of Carmarthenshire..."
What follows is a scholarly look at many aspects of the issue from the point of view of someone deeply involved with her cattle but who has a background in microbiology as well as an up to date knowledge of the literature.
She is able to explain the problems that have made control of the disease particularly difficult in Britain, and she explains why vaccination is simply not as straightforward as so many of us ardently wish it could be.
The recommendations she makes are of particular interest and should be read by all who feel an involvement in the subject. Read the paper.

February 19th 2012 ~ Camelids, cats, pigs, sheep - and now an entire deer herd has been wiped out because of bTB

An entire herd of 130 wild deer have been put down in the Forest of Dean. The keeper, who is also the chairman of Gloucestershire County Council, had to go through the heartbreak of putting down all 130 of the animals on the Priors Mesne estate, near Aylburton, Lydney. He and his wife have now sold the estate.
He said he is reasonably sure badgers are to blame for the infection. He is quoted in the Gloucestershire local paper :
"What I feel about the situation is there must be money spent by the Government on proper research, they have got to get to grips with this because if they don't, we are in real trouble."
ProMed's recent comment on "other species" susceptible to bTB:
"According to the annual report of the chief veterinary officer, UK, for 2009, _Mycobacterium bovis_ was confirmed in 19 of 52 notified deer carcasses, 18 of which were from wild deer populations, and one case from a farmed deer. This was significantly lower than in alpacas (_M.bovis_ confirmed in 68 of 123 submissions).
In cats, 27 were positive out of 104 submissions. Out of 116 domestic pigs submitted for TB examination, 23 were found infected. There were 9 sheep submissions, with 5 positives."

February 15th 2012 ~ Tough words from the highly respected Anthony Gibson

He writes in the Western Morning News that the Badger Trust's legal challenge to two pilot culls designed to test the effectiveness of the Government's strategy for beating bovine tuberculosis was "depressingly predictable". Extract
"...One always hopes that at some stage in this sorry saga, concern for the welfare of animals will prevail over headline-grabbing emotionalism, and one's hopes invariably come to nothing.
At best - which assumes a Government victory in the courts - the Trust's judicial review will waste a great deal of money - their own, and ours as taxpayers - without delaying the start of operations.
At worst - if they win - it will be a major setback to disease control which will, in time, result in the illness and deaths of vastly more badgers than will ever be humanely killed in the course of the official cull.
As I have written before, no one is more responsible for the spread of bovine TB through the badger population than the Badger Trust, in its stubborn refusal to co-operate or even acquiesce in action to break the cycle of infection...."
Read in full

February 15th 2012 ~ The announcement of the new EU rules was "DEFRA at its worst" says Anthony Gibson

Until last week, the rule was that if a farm had a confirmed outbreak it could still bring animals in, subject to a veterinary risk assessment. Now any farm under restrictions must wait until it has had its first 60-day re-test. The intervention by EU veterinary inspectors to force a change was simply announced quietly on DEFRA's website. As Mr Gibson says, " there was no prior warning, no letter or even e-mail to farmers who might be affected. Just an announcement, out of the blue, on the website. " He offers "two crumbs of comfort".
"The first is that the change only applies to farms which have their OTF status withdrawn. If it's suspended, because of a failed skin test, but no lesions and a negative culture test, then the rules haven't changed and re-stocking may still be possible, subject to a risk assessment. The second is that it only applies to

Feb 14th 2012 ~ Attempts to get the EU to lift the ban on cattle vaccination

Lords Hansard "... The Minister of State met Commissioner Dalli on 6 February 2012, when they spoke about cattle vaccination; this time to support the Commission's draft proposals for a new EU animal health law, which would allow the Commission, with the support of member states, to lift the ban on cattle vaccination when the evidence and appropriate certifications are in place. We continue to lobby hard for a change to EU legislation, but realistically this is still several years away and we cannot be confident other member states will agree to it."

Feb 14th 2012 ~ When will the Government expect to produce a final report on the badger culling pilot schemes, asked Baroness Smith of Basildon

She asked "whether, and if so when and how, interim reports will be published; and what assessments will be made of those interim reports?"
Lord Taylor of Holbeach said that
"the evaluation of controlled shooting will be overseen by an independent panel of experts, who are expected to report to Ministers before the end of the year. Ministers will then take a decision on whether the granting of culling licences should be authorised in other areas besides the pilot areas, and whether the badger control policy should continue to include controlled shooting as a culling method. We aim to make this decision by January 2013."
Hansard See also DEFRA site on the subject of vaccine for cattle. Extract:
Relevant legislative barriers include:

February 13th 2012 ~The National Beef Association (NBA) is drawing attention to a change in the TB rules which it feels many farmers do not know about

Early in February, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) withdrew the ability for certain TB-affected farms to restock their herds. The NBA is concerned that some farmers don't know this yet.
" ...Specifically, when a reactor presents lesions at slaughter, or disease is cultured in the laboratory, the farm it came from will not be permitted to bring in stock until it has completed its first Short Interval Test (SIT) 60 days after the reactor animal has left the farm or been suitably isolated.
Bill Harper, NBA TB Committee Chairman, says: "The rules only changed at the beginning of this month but we are concerned that not enough farmers know about it and could be severely affected. Our members who have already been hit by the change have voiced huge surprise at the goalposts being moved and we feel everyone should be aware of what's going on..." Read press release in full
Mr Harper says that some herds will be affected more than others and some farmers may wish to put in a contingency plan in case they become affected. The press release explains in a seven point summary, what the rule change means for farmers.

February 9th 2012 ~ Badger Trust warns DEFRA of legal challenge

Jonathan Riley in FWi "The Badger Trust ... in a letter to DEFRA on 9 February the trust said it was giving notice of the grounds of a challenge which it intended to pursue "if DEFRA does not set aside its decision to kill badgers in its measures to eradicate bovine tuberculosis".
The trust added that its final position on the challenge should be known by 17 February." Read in full

February 7th 2012 ~ Welsh decision on culling: "We are now well into February and the term 'early in the new year' will soon no longer apply"

Shadow Rural Affairs Minister in Wales, Antoinette Sandbach, is quoted today by the Farmers Guardian
"....the minister has had this report for well over two months and it is about time farmers were paid the respect of a decision on direction.
It is now eight long months since this issue was conveniently kicked into the long grass. During that time frustrations in rural communities have been growing and tensions rising.
While the minister buys time, farmers are paying the price. Tough but necessary action is required on TB and more delays are not just unwelcome, they are completely unwarranted."
Read article

February 4th 2012 ~ The grim reality: "...those too young to travel or heavily in calf will be shot on the yard"

bTB devastation grinds on relentlessly. The Western Telegraph reports the words of a woman farmer in north Pembrokeshire who is going to lose at least 20 out of her herd of 50 Welsh Blacks. She wants to invite Wales' First Minister to witness first-hand the devastation Bovine TB has brought to her farm.
"We are not anti-badgers, but there are more of them than cattle on the farm now.
It's unacceptable for this to carry on. It's a vicious circle, and until it's broken north Pembrokeshire will be rife with bovine TB.
It's too late for us, but there are a lot of other farmers who could be in this situation.
We are devastated, it's terrible. We have farmed here since the 1960s, and there have been cattle on this land for 400 years, but we will not buy anymore. It would be condemning any animal to death to bring it in."
Read in full

31st January 2012 ~"silence from Welsh Government on this issue" is no comfort to cattle farmers who "wake up each and every morning having to deal with the ravaging effect of bovine TB"

www.farminguk.com quotes Stephen James, NFU Cymru Deputy President
"Whilst we recognise that the decision to move forward with a badger control policy is not a universally popular decision, this Government cannot continue to skirt the issue. Governments are elected to make the tough decisions that ensure the people and industries they represent can prosper. The silence from Welsh Government on this issue is resulting in this Government losing the respect of all cattle farmers and their families who 12 months ago had real hope that bovine TB could, by working jointly with Government, be eradicated from Wales."
Mr James spoke of the growing financial and emotional strain involved in trying to adhere with "increasingly complex and costly cattle control measures." Without a concurrent strategy to tackle the disease in wildlife, he said, little can be done to curb and eventually eradicate the disease. The Minister received the report of the scientific review group in early December. (See also below)

27th January 2012 ~ Ambridge votes for a badger vaccination programme.

The Archers - for reasons that can be readily understood - have been shown by the writers to take the Gloucestershire Wildlife Report on Vaccine Deploymet Programme (pdf) very seriously and to vote for vaccination. Listen again Oliver, in addition to arguing against "locking up cows" at the meeting about the new dairy, talks passionately about vaccinating badgers against bTB
"..then the badgers are vaccinated, stock marked and released. Traps are reset and re-baited that evening after three pm. Traps are revisited next morning between 4 and 8 am.."
"...Oliver swung it. He turned it around".
(Mike remains unconvinced.)
As we say below, even those most expert in badger vaccination as it now exists, would not ever suggest that it can eradicate bTB in badgers. However, the www.brockvaccination.co.uk points out that what it does do is act "to address the long term disease dynamics of your land....With cage trapping we can catch most of the social group simultaneously and vaccinate them with a set dose of vaccine." (See also below)

23rd January 2012 ~ 48% of farmers surveyed thought that vaccination was a good thing to do, but only a quarter believed it would help prevent the spread of bTB

The Farmers Guardian reports on research carried out by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) and Cardiff University. It shows that of 341 farmers surveyed during the autumn of 2010 in five areas of England (in Devon, Gloucestershire and Cheshire), including the Gloucestershire area of the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (BVDP), 48 per cent, thought that vaccination was a good thing to do, but only a quarter believed it would help prevent the spread of bTB.
"Less than a quarter of farmers thought Defra could manage vaccination competently, while a third thought that the Government's scientific case for badger vaccination lacked credibility.
The vast majority (89 per cent) believed that it was not their responsibility to pay for vaccination.
... The majority of farmers (52 per cent) did not think the Government were doing a good job in relation to bTB policy, while 80 per cent believed that bTB policy was too influenced by the general public, as opposed to veterinary or agricultural specialists.
Nearly half, 46 per cent, did not believe bTB policy decisions in general to have been "fairly made" ...
...most farmers were pessimistic about their ability to do anything to avoid bTB restrictions - 79 per cent said that it was simply a 'matter of luck' if their cattle became infected."
As we say below, although the www.brockvaccination.co.uk team would be the first to admit that at present, badger vaccination is no silver bullet, what it does do is act "to address the long term disease dynamics of your land....With cage trapping we can catch most of the social group simultaneously and vaccinate them with a set dose of vaccine." (See also below)

20th January 2012 ~ "I understand that residents in these areas may have views on the proposal to cull badgers..." Caroline Spelman

(Hansard) "and, as part of its assessment, Natural England will provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the applications.
However, those undertaking licensed activity, and those living and working within the application area, must be protected. Therefore, we do not propose to make available any further information at this stage about the exact location of the pilot areas.
We expect Natural England's decision on whether or not to grant licences to these two areas to be made in the spring.
An independent panel of experts will oversee the monitoring and evaluation of the pilot areas and report back to Government.
... Professor Christopher Wathes has been appointed chair of the independent panel of experts. Professor Wathes is a professor of animal welfare at the Royal Veterinary College and the current chair of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee. Other members of the panel will be appointed shortly..."

January 19th 2012 ~ Locations confirmed

See Hansard for Caroline Spelman's announcement of the
" two carefully selected areas, West Gloucestershire and West Somerset, to submit applications to Natural England. Natural England will assess the applications against the strict licensing criteria and decide whether or not to grant licences..."
They were selected from a shortlist proposed by the farming industry itself, as the most suitable to run pilot schemes for the controlled shooting of badgers. The pilots are expected to take place over a period of six weeks in early Autumn 2012. Jim Paice is quoted on the Farminguk. website:
"...Nobody wants to cull badgers. But no country in the world where wildlife carries TB has eradicated the disease in cattle without tackling it in wildlife too..." Read in full
See also Telegraph and Vetsonline
(Farmers and landowners in any areas who feel they would like to use badger vaccine to lower potential incidence of the disease can contact www.brockvaccination.co.uk The team there are the first to admit that at present, badger vaccination is not a 'quick fix' solution to the TB disease problem but that it does act "to address the long term disease dynamics of your land....With cage trapping we can catch most of the social group simultaneously and vaccinate them with a set dose of vaccine." (See also below)

January 17th 2012 ~ Bryan Hill, who says "a cull of exclusively diseased animals would very swiftly reduce instances of bovine TB in cattle" has been in talks with the Badger Trust

Bryan Hill is the badger expert who worked closely with Chris Chapman on the DVD "The Way Forward". He demonstrates an extraordinary ability to pinpoint the location of those setts that actually do have bTB. Those are the only setts he would like to see cleared out. He says,
"...just because a badger is protected, would you let it go out and suffer unreasonably?" and "if we are advised to wear a face mask and gloves, to handle them when they are dead, how much worse is it when they are alive? They are passing on a disease which causes suffering and are starved into a slow death". (See more at bovinetb.blogspot.com)
Chris Chapman said that the aim of that DVD was to
"educate the public on the tragedy of this disease and to try to bridge the gap between the farming industry, wildlife groups and a largely ill-informed public....the simple fact is that Bryan Hill's strategy works and there are many out there who will give testimony to this"
Mr Hill is deeply concerned that the perception of seeing farmers as "the enemy" has got worse. He has visited well over a thousand West Country farms to help them identify infected areas and setts and he insists that a cull of exclusively diseased animals would very swiftly reduce instances of bovine TB in cattle - and would also be far more acceptable to the public.
He has been in talks with the Badger Trust and told the Western Morning News
"They were very positive and we now have a far better understanding. In fact there was only one real issue that divided us. I, as a farmer and countryman, want to manage the disease situation - while the badger lobby believes if you don't do anything about the badgers the situation will sort itself out."
He is certainly doing everything possible to explain that culling cattle and doing nothing about the diseased wildlife is, for the badger population itself, the worst possible situation. (Read article at WMN)

January 16th 2012 ~ Cameron on Countryfile

The iPlayer link is here and the interview with the PM on the badger cull and bTB begins at 16.15mins into the programme. It will disappoint many that there is no mention of vaccination for either badgers or cattle.
( Is our information correct that it was James Paice who, at the time of the Oxford Farming Conference this year, suggested to journalists that TB cattle vaccine could be "in the lab within a year" but that another year for testing would be needed as well as getting the EU to change its mind about approving TB vaccination for cattle? It is the daunting but long overdue task of getting the EU to change its stance that will be the real game-changer. )

January 14th 2012 ~ David Cameron: the cull will be "controversial, it's going to be a difficult thing to do."

In an interview on Countryfile (for Jan 15 at 7pm on BBC1), Mr Cameron says that the cull will be
"...difficult to police, difficult to carry out, there's no end of difficulties...the question we faced as a Government is when you've got all this evidence that culling should be part of - only part of - a balanced package of measures, do you just sweep it under the carpet and announce another review? Or do you say, "OK we need to get on and see if we can make this work?"
We've taken the difficult decision and I think that's the right thing to do.." Sources
Mr Cameron said that those protesting against the decision to cull badgers were forgetting that badgers too are suffering from the "terrible" disease. A correspondent in America makes what we feel is a very valid point about the fact that the media always illustrate their bTB articles with photos of healthy badgers:
" It looks like there may finally be a (limited) badger cull. The two reports seem fair enough, but why does the Telegraph have to use a photo of a cute, heathy badger rather than a diseased one? That is not fair."

January 14th 2012 ~ "my two best cows... Not many left now..It is horrible..."

As for the affected farmers, one wrote to warmwell.com:
"....pre-movement testing to sell cows 'to live' threw up a reactor, so she 'went to the Government', visible lesions found in her carcase so two cows who had tested IR shortly after the reactor had gone have now been reclassified as reactors and went off to the Govt abbattoir to-day - my two best cows... Not many left now..It is horrible, a lot of farmers here are in the same boat, some closed down for years.. it may be that we have, collectively, gone barking mad - turning our backs on any notion of stewardship in favour of cuddly animal fantasies. I do not know, but I do know that I find the complexities of Btb more than I can get my head round, at the end of a long day etc, etc. ..."
(The writer is a farmer who cares very much for all his animals and wildlife. He generously added that the local DEFRA staff at Worcester had been " incredibly helpful, sympathetic, and quick acting".)

January 11th 2012 ~ "Boxster's Story - The Truth Behind The Lies"- the book will soon be out.

Visit www.boxstersstory.co.uk/ for details. DEFRA "argued in court its breach of procedure was trivial and irrelevant. And it continued to hope and believe it would be proved right in the long run. This story tells the highs and lows faced by the family, the tears and laughter and the truth behind the lies..."
( See warmwell archive of the Hallmark Boxster story from 1st September 2010 until the announcement of the publication of Kate's book in February.)

January 7th 2012 ~ NFU supports badger TB vaccine which, although it will not cure an infected badger, helps to control the spread of the disease.

The Shropshire Star reports on the NFU fear that "Bovine tuberculosis is spiralling out of control and is now one of the biggest threats to Shropshire's beef and dairy industries" The statistics are deeply depressing
"In 2010, some 2,165 Shropshire cattle were slaughtered to control the spread of the disease, compared to 473 in 2003. Although the full figures for 2011 are not yet available, 1,362 cattle were slaughtered between January and August. During that time 1,981 tests were carried out on herds in the county, with 371 herds placed under restriction."
Shropshire NFU spokesman Oliver Cartwright is quoted:
"Badger control is regrettable but absolutely necessary to break the cycle of infection and if the disease continues to run unchecked in wildlife there will be thousands more cattle and badgers infected.... this is not about eradicating badgers it is about controlling disease in specific target areas where the level of TB is persistent and high"
Adding that the NFU does support vaccinating badgers but unfortunately, an oral vaccine that can be left for badgers to eat is still a long way off. "While we wait for vaccine developments we need to address the disease nightmare that Shropshire cattle farmers currently face."

January 5th 2012 ~ Concern expressed about violent public protest

On the subject of badger culls , Farmers Weekly reports that at Oxford yesterday Mr Paice said the government and its badger cull licencing body, Natural England, would not announce where the culls were being held - but that " it was impossible to prevent the public from learning where the trials to shoot badgers would be held." He added
"We believe the science is clear, these trials are about testing the efficacy, humaneness and public safety of shooting to reduce the badger population by 70% [within cull areas]. We think it's necessary."
Shadow DEFRA Secretary, Mary Creag, warned that "armed police" would be needed to monitor culling areas.
Peter Kendall, responding to this, commented
"Farmers already shoot foxes and rabbits at night safely. The fact that areas won't remain secret is no reason for farmers not to take part in a cull trial either".
John Royle, the NFU's chief farm policy adviser, is quoted in the Farmers Guardian. He said that DEFRA's estimates of costs were inaccurate and that a typical farmer with 180 cattle would pay the company formed to administer the cull about £850.
"That's two-thirds of the price of a TB reactor saved. Everybody we have spoken to is more than happy with the costing"

January 4th 2012 ~ James Paice tells Oxford that there might be a viable cattle vaccine within 6 years

We are waiting to see a transcript, but Jim Paice has told journalists at the Oxford Farming Conference that TB cattle vaccine will be in the lab within a year; then another year for testing will be needed. EU approval for TB vaccination for cattle will be needed, of course, but it seems that Mr Paice seemed optimistic. More asap.
UPDATE In fact, the transcript of the Minister's formal speech (here) shows that it concentrates on food production and exports.

Jan 3rd 2012 ~ "Badger vaccination is not a 'quick fix' solution to the TB disease problem, however it acts to address the long term disease dynamics of your land."

The website www.brockvaccination.co.uk has published a list of questions and answers about badger vaccination, mainly aimed at farmers. It does not seek to make any false claims - either about the role of badgers in spreading bTB in hotspots, or that vaccination is in any way foolproof. It reminds readers that "the possibility of a usable oral badger vaccine is still many years away." It does not deny that badgers can be stressed when trapped.
" abrasions on foreheads and forelegs have been noted, however the majority of animals trapped are not visibly distressed; we arrive very early in the morning and often the badgers are asleep. Badgers are injected with the BCG vaccine, then released after being clinically observed, clipped marked and sprayed."
The page is aimed at those who might want to try vaccination on their land. There is a contact number and email address "The cost of vaccinating the badgers on your land is influenced by many factors, such as the size of your land, the density of badgers present, and the ease of access to the traps we deploy. The initial survey we undertake allows us to calculate the likely cost, based on the above factors."

Dec 19th 2011 ~ Minister Jim Paice will be live on FWi web chat today

He will have the unenviable task of answering questions about this week's badger cull announcement. www.fwi.co.uk One may submit questions up to 10 a.m. and a full transcript will be available as soon as the session has finished: Questions may be emailed to rachel.jones@rbi.co.uk

Dec 19th 2011 ~ NBA and CLA both welcome the announcement

CLA statement
": Once again, the Government has shown it is completely committed to supporting the eradication of bovine TB. This dreadful disease will cost England more than £1billion over the next decade, with hundreds of thousands of cattle dying needlessly, if nothing is done.
The CLA backs a controlled cull, carried out by farmers and landowners, as part of a science-led, well-managed and sustained bTB control policy. Badger culling, bTB testing, cattle movement control and removal and slaughter of infected animals are all essential tools to tackle the disease."www.cla.org.uk
TheNBA statement:
"We congratulate Mrs Spelman and her colleagues within Defra for moving this forward and creating a structure that allows this work to be done legally and effectively. We hope this will set an example to some of the devolved governments that have a TB problem but are not addressing the reservoir of disease in wildlife.
While it is with regret that some badgers will be removed, populations have exploded in many parts of the UK and it is impossible for the cattle industry to get a grip of TB without looking at the wildlife element too.
Farmers want to see badgers on their farm and the NBA believes these control measures will ensure those badgers are healthy, which will also ensure a healthy and thriving cattle population too." (www.meatinfo.co.uk

Dec 15th 2011 ~ What about the vaccination trial in Gloucester? asked Lib Dem, Tessa Munt

Mrs Spelman's answer:
"It will take some time - many years - before we can finally assess the effectiveness of the vaccination trial in Gloucestershire, but I went and saw it for myself and, as much as anything, it was about the practicalities of trapping and caging the badgers prior to injecting with the only vaccine that is available. There are considerable practical difficulties with the procedure, but today I have tried to make available a fund to help those voluntary groups that want to participate in the vaccination programme."
Mrs Spelman told the House of Commons that "An independent panel of experts will oversee and evaluate the pilots and report back to the Government, and we will then decide whether the policy should be rolled out more widely.
This has not been an easy decision to make, and it is not one that I have taken lightly. I have personally considered all the options and evidence, and at present there is no satisfactory alternative." Caroline Spelman's statement setting out "the next stage in the bovine tuberculosis eradication programme for England" was met yesterday with question after question. Read in full

Dec 14th 2011 ~ "... Overall, the findings suggested that intensively managed dairy herds were at greater risk of bovine tuberculosis outbreaks than were other herds."

Caroline Lucas asked the Minister today about possible connections between cattle to cattle transmission and intensive farming.
"....what consideration did the Secretary of State give to reducing the trend towards increasing intensive dairy farming? Around 80% of bovine TB transmission is thought to be caused cattle to cattle and that happens far more easily in crowded conditions"(Hansard) Caroline Spelman replied that there was no evidence of links. However, in a policy document called "A sustainable strategy for tackling TB in cattle and badgers" the Soil Association made a plea (pdf) for official policy to move beyond polarised debate and "stamping out" disease and a greater concentration on health. They suggested that the theory that bovine TB may be more closely correlated with the husbandry system and thus animals' susceptibility, rather than just exposure to the pathogen per se, be seriously considered. The UK Agriculture Select Committee cited such research in 2001, suggesting that improvements in animal husbandry could be indeed significant in reducing bTB See: Griffin JM, Hahesy T, Lynch K, Salman MD, McCarthy J, Hurley T, 1993, The association of cattle husbandry practices, environmental factors and farmer characteristics with the occurrence of chronic bovine tuberculosis in dairy herds in the Republic of Ireland, Preventive Veterinary Extract:
"... Overall, the findings suggested that intensively managed dairy herds were at greater risk of bovine tuberculosis outbreaks than were other herds."

Dec 14th 2011 ~ "Anyone who thinks farmers will be celebrating after receiving the green light for a badger cull to combat bovine tuberculosis should think again."

Johann Tasker's Blog today attempts the almost impossible task of trying to inject some cool balance into the issue. As he says, it is important to remember that "farmers are not anti-badger, they are anti-TB. And they believe a cull is the least worst option in trying to eradicate the disease."

Dec 14th 2011 ~ the pilots will monitor the humaneness of the controlled shooting method

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) support today's announcement. They have argued that bTB can only be successfully challenged if the disease is tackled in wildlife in addition to the very strict measures imposed on farmers to control the disease in cattle.

Dec 14th 2011 ~ "Much has been said about the cull, accurate and inaccurate"

The NBA has clearly set out the basics:

Dec 12th 2011 ~ "Kate was amazed at the number of ways in which the existing ramshackle system might get it wrong.....Pinches vary. Animals vary..."

The Yorkshire Post gives an update on Hallmark Boxster today, reminding us that the whole sorry business
"cost £124,000 in legal fees to get the all-clear Ken always predicted, plus 18 months of lost business, plus time at the High Court and the stress of doing all that on a remortgage and an overdraft. Defra offered £90,000 and he has now settled for it, rather than go back to court."
Since the Jackson's daughter, Kate, used to be a lab technician she knew how easily a blood sample could be spoiled
"..she led the attack on Defra's insistence that there was no reason to doubt its test on Boxster. Technicians had had difficulty getting a sample and had mixed two.
On the way to proving this was a serious error, Kate was amazed at the number of ways in which the existing ramshackle system might get it wrong. For example, the 'skin test' for TB, on which so much depends, amounts to the difference in the bumps made by two pinches of flesh - one before an injection of sterilised TB culture and one after. Pinches vary. Animals vary. Kate is writing a book explaining how they came to doubt almost everything the vets said was certain.
"One thing I am sure of is they should be taking a long hard look at the whole system."
It is good to know from the article that "there should be calves next spring as an entirely natural consequence of Boxster's exuberant return to the herd in August."

Dec 12th 2011 ~ Badger Trust applauds, but the FUW expresses "extreme dismay" that the Welsh decision is being delayed yet again.

Farmers' Union of Wales president Emyr Jones has written to the Welsh Assembly's "Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development", John Griffiths, expressing "extreme dismay" that the decision is being delayed yet again.
"These continued delays are a betrayal of the Welsh farming industry's commitment to a holistic approach to controlling bovine TB."
A decision is not now expected until early 2012 despite there having previously been a commitment to making a decision in the autumn.
"The farming community has acted in good faith since the commitment in 2008 by the previous administration that an holistic bTB eradication programme would be pursued. Nowhere is this more true than in north Pembrokeshire, where heightened cattle controls in anticipation of a badger cull have necessitated a complete restructuring of many farm businesses and significant increased financial and emotional pressures for all cattle keepers."
The reaction of the Badger Trust is given in the Farmers Guardian today. Shadow Rural Affairs Minister, Antoinette Sandbach, is also quoted:
"The Minister has had six months to make a decision on TB eradication. Welsh farmers have waited patiently, but it seems the Minister is in no hurry to tackle this disease and appears willing to try every delaying tactic in the book. Should we now expect further delays to be announced in January, or maybe a lengthy consultation exercise? The Minister may be buying time with these delays, but it is the farmers who are paying the price. I am deeply concerned he is putting politics before the interests of animal health."

Dec 9th 2011~ When in doubt, spend £871,000 counting badgers

Farmers Weekly tells us that
"The government says obtaining an estimate of the current size of the badger population will help inform policy on badgers... "
The last National Badger Survey of Great Britain was completed in 1997 and confirmed that badger numbers have increased substantially. Apparently, DEFRA feels the need for a new survey covering the same ground. It will run until 2013 at a cost of £871,000. See also DEFRA website.

Dec 7th 2011 ~ Wales. No announcement on culling until the early months of next year.

Plaid Cymru's rural affairs spokesperson, Llyr Huws Gruffydd, is quoted by the Farmers Guardian:
"...It is clear they have decided on a course of action and yet the Government refuses to make an announcement. Firstly we were told we would receive an answer 'by the autumn'. We asked the Minister to make his announcement before the Royal Welsh Winter Fair and again we were let down. Then we were told 'by Christmas'. Now we are being told that it will be at an unspecified time in the first months of next year. No reason has been given for the delay and all the while there are Welsh farmers who are losing cattle every day to TB.."
Read in full

December 6th 2011 ~ Compensation for pedigree cattle. What are the real figures?

The vexed question of "compensation" has been raised again. This time (yesterday) Neil Parish Hansard asked DEFRA about the apparent anomaly of farmers in England receiving more compensation for non pedigree animals compulsorarily slaughtered. This was a point raised previously by Mr Parish on October 18th (Hansard ) when he spoke of
"the problem of pedigree cattle being taken out of England that are under tabular valuation. Those over 36 months old receive less compensation than non-pedigree cattle, and many farmers in Devon have to go to markets in Somerset and compete with Welsh farmers who have received huge amounts of compensation. It is necessary to get the valuations right."
Mr Paice's reply merely summarised the notes apprearing below DEFRA's compensation tables saying that compensation for most TB affected cattle was "determined objectively through table valuations which are true average open market prices for same category animals." Sales data is collected from "a large number and wide range of sources" and that apparently, "a higher compensation rate for non-pedigree cattle (in the same category) will be a reflection of the underlying sales data."
However, DEFRA's table for Nov 2011 pdf does not suggest to us that the anomaly mentioned yesterday has been the case for some time. (We should appreciate guidance here.) It might be thought odd that Mr Paice himself appears to be unaware of the contents of the most recent tables and was thus unable to reassure Mr Parish on this point. Is the Department not given prior notice of written questions for its Minister and thus able to brief him accurately?

December 6th 2011 ~ William Bain MP asked DEFRA "what new scientific evidence has emerged since the Bovine TB Eradication Group for England issued its report on Developing a Bovine TB Eradication Programme for England in October 2009."

Hansard
Mr Paice: There is a large amount of ongoing research into the epidemiology of TB and the development and evaluation of potential methods of controlling the disease, both within DEFRA's research programme and through other funding sources (such as the research councils) and new evidence is constantly becoming available.
A significant source of new evidence on culling badgers comes from the ongoing monitoring of TB incidence in the areas of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. Ongoing monitoring since the end of the RBCT shows that the positive effect of culling on herd breakdowns was maintained for at least 5.5 years after culling stopped and that the negative effect on confirmed herd breakdowns on surrounding land disappeared by 12-18 months after culling stopped. When cattle TB incidence figures from the period after culling are included, the benefits of proactive culling are greater than those observed during the trial itself."
This written answer suggests what the expected decision about culling will be.

November 29th 2011 ~ A voluntary passport sticker scheme for cattle is being introduced in Wales to help farmers and buyers identify when animals last had a clear TB test.

See BBC report or Farmers Weekly

November 29th 2011 ~ Wales "Farmers are in limbo... having to watch valuable cows being destroyed, many of them needlessly." AM Angela Burns

In Wales, the Science Review Group's report into badger cull has still not reached the office of the Welsh Environment Minister, John Griffiths. The Welsh Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, Antoinette Sandbach, says: "When the minister finally gets sight of this report, it will be almost six months since he kicked the cull into the long grass. During that time frustrations over the delay have got worse and worse." See WesternTelegraph
In England, the decision whether or not to implement a badger cull in the hotspot areas is expected to be unveiled in little more than three weeks. Two trial badger culls are planned next year in south-west England, where bovine tuberculosis is most acute. See below.

November 24th 2011 ~ Badger cull decision is expected to be in about three weeks

Farmers Weekly says that the NFU remains "hopeful" that a pilot badger cull in England will be given approval
"We are anticipating a positive announcement and in preparation for that, we have been preparing areas, mapping and meeting farmers and discussing policy."
Jim Paice said a decision would be made before Christmas, but Farmers Weekly understands that an announcement could be made in the week before Parliament goes into recess on Tuesday 20 December.

November 21st 2011 ~ Det Ch Supt Tudway warns against "pitting farmers against activists"

The Independent reports today that police forces could be overwhelmed by protests about the badger cull.
"Officers already face budget cuts...Given the difficult nature of policing this initiative, the steps forces are taking to respond to new financial pressures and the proximity of this initiative to other competing priorities... forces will find themselves under huge pressures to manage even small but sustained campaign activity, particularly where that includes unlawful direct action and subsequent criminal investigations."
DEFRA told the Independent that no final cull decision has been taken yet. (While sympathising with anyone who detests blanket culling, one does rather wonder where all the animal rights protesters were when official policy in 2001 was to exterminate literally millions of animals and their young susceptible to FMD when - as is

November 17th 2011 ~ AHVLA computer problems have serious consequences for high TB areas

As the FWi reports today, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency's system has broken down and vital paperwork approving the movement of cattle has not been sent. Although applications for export health certificates are now being processed and consignments of calves in low TB incidence areas being able to move, calf exports from high TB incidence regions are not being processed. The AHVLA is an executive agency of DEFRA. A pedigree beef farmer in Devon, quoted by Fwi, points out the illogicality of the present bureaucracy
"I've got two reactor cows which I want to get off the farm as soon as possible. But AHVLA said it was likely to be three weeks before they could be slaughtered. We've got complete traceability so why can't they just take them?"

November 15th 2011 ~ The NFU and Badger Trust agree a joint project in which the badgers will be vaccinated on two farms owned by NFU members.

See Farmers Guardian
"NFU chief farm policy adviser John Royle and Badger Trust director Simon Boulter have agreed a joint project in which the badgers will be vaccinated on two farms owned by NFU members.
In addition, the Badger Trust has identified five other landowners around the UK wishing to vaccinate badgers and is working independently with them as part of the initial trial project.
Vaccination on all seven farms started in October after surveys were carried out to identify active badger setts and licences have been granted by Natural England. The vaccination project will run until the end of November 2011 and resume in May 2012.
It is hoped that the two programmes, although small in scale, will help to identify whether the injectable vaccination of badgers is practical and cost effective."
Read in full

November 14th 2011 ~ Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control - DEFRA has no plans to formally register or license camelids.

Hansard
James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department plans to introduce registration and licensing for camelids. [74629]
Mr Paice: DEFRA has no plans to formally register or license camelids.

November 13th 2011 ~"...the potential for treating even the most serious diseases like TB with trace elements is being ignored by the authorities."

We are particularly grateful to Christine Ball of the British Goat Society who sends this most interesting response to a talk by ex-colonel Danny Goodwin-Jones, given during their Autumn Conference on Nov 12th hosted by the Gloucestershire Goat Society.
"One of the speakers was Mr Goodwin-Jones, director of the Carmarthen based Trace Element Services Ltd. His talk was inspirational and fascinating. The importance of trace elements to all livestock & indeed to humans cannot be underestimated. But it seems the potential for treating even the most serious diseases like TB with trace elements is being ignored by the authorities. Mr Goodwin-Jones spoke about the soil and how much of it is ruined by ploughing too deep. This affects all grazing animals and crops grown on deficient land. Many areas in the UK are naturally deficient in various trace elements, but soil can be analysed and treated to replace essential elements. This can reduce vet bills and the need for fertiliser. Animals are healthier.
This made a great deal of common sense to me and I cannot understand why the authorities have so far taken little or no interest in this." Christine Ball. BGS Overseas Representative.
We have been interested in Danny Goodwin-Jones' views for some time. See recent posts

November 10th 2011 ~ New Zealand criticised for scattering toxins such as 1080 "indiscriminately over large areas and ignoring the solution of soil and stock management."

A farmer in New Zealand, Aiden MacKenzie, concerned by the use of the poison 1080 to kill bTB carriers such as possum see below spoke about the pressure exerted in the 60s and 70s by chemical companies and vested interests when "super phosphates" were sprayed onto top soil in New Zealand, creating a soil imbalance. He has presented a paper to a meeting of New Zealand's Marlborough Federated Farmers. Extract:
"In a nutshell, if the soil is balanced in terms of mineral elements and healthy, then grass nutrition is balanced and healthy and healthy stock result. The consequence is maximum immunity to diseases whether it be Tb or others....acidic soils create a cascade effect of an accumulation of available iron. High iron levels allow myco-bacteria to thrive and increase and create the pathology within an animal's body for strains such as tuberculosis. Myco-bacteria 'hijack' the iron from the animal's body, which leads to classic anaemia, associated with chronic Tb.
He suggested that tests in Michigan, US, had shown conclusively that liming the soils caused a 10-fold reduction in Tb. (However, the UK TB Advisory group noted in 2009 that the Michigan studies were not conclusive for bovine TB (see DEFRA pdf):
"The results of these studies where lime was spread on farms in Michigan suffering from high rates of mycobacterium infection, concluded that lime treatment (which reduces iron availability) had reduced infection of cattle after a three year period had passed. However, the studies were designed to look at the paratuberculosis strain of mycobacterium, not bovine TB, and as such are not scientifically rigorous enough to support this theory for bovine TB." )

November 10th 2011 ~ Could cattle be bred to resist bTB?

The Farmers Guardian reports that scientists at Scotland's Roslin Institute have found that 'some degree of resistance to Bovine TB is inherited'. Professor Liz Glass and her team have also identified genetic markers associated with resistance. The Roslin Institute says:
"These results mean that it might be possible to selectively breed cows which are more resistant to the disease."
Read in full
A similar Farmers Weekly article also quotes Prof Glass, who said depending on the pilot trial, farmers could have access to breeding information "in the next two to three years".
"We see this as an additional tool to help control bovine TB and reduce the force of infection....a step along the way because we need something otherwise within the next decade, in England alone, the disease will have cost the industry £1billion"

November 8th 2011 ~ James Paice - Hansard Monday on "... safety implications of using shooting as part of the proposed badger cull"

James Paice "We are in discussion with the Association of Chief Police Officers and with the Home Office regarding the police response and associated costs related to the proposed badger control policy....We have estimated that farmers and landowners who apply for licences are likely' to incur a cost of around £1.4 million for one 350 sq km area to carry out the culling operation (including the costs of coordination and surveying). This is based on DEFRA's estimated cost of culling - the industry believes that it can be delivered for less." Read in full (None of this makes for particularly comfortable reading.)

November 8th 2011 ~ "To see the pain it brings people, it is just something we cannot neglect.." William Worsley

The outgoing President of the Country Land and Business Association talked to the Yorkshire Post yesterday
"...Some of the more colourful rhetoric from animal welfare groups has attempted to portray farmers as bloodthirsty caricatures, desperate to kill badgers.
The reality is very different with most, like Mr Worsley, seeing the cull as regrettable but necessary.
"It is not such an important area in Yorkshire, and thank God.
"However I have travelled all over the country doing this job. To see the pain it brings people, it is just something we cannot neglect. We have to stand up and fight for a proper solution. This includes vaccination, testing and it includes culling.
"Jim Paice has taken this up well, it is not an enviable task given the strength of debate."..."

November 7th 2011 ~ John Griffiths (Wales' environment minister) is hoping to make a statement before Christmas

FWi reports today that Alun Davies, the deputy farming minister in Wales, said he expected the review process to be completed in December. Read in full

November 3rd 2011 ~ Welsh Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, Antoinette Sandbach, has accused John Griffiths of "being in no hurry" to deal with bTB

The Farmers Guardian quotes her today:
"The Minister confirmed to me in writing that the final meeting of the TB review panel would be on October 28, yet he now says it has been pushed back to next week. The final report and its recommendations were due in autumn, yet it increasingly looks like this deadline will also be missed. Bovine TB has been taking a terrible toll on Welsh family farms, and these latest delays will only add to their worries.
Rural Wales has been patient with the Welsh Government, but this new delay adds to the impression that the Minister is in no hurry to take the tough decisions necessary to tackle this disease."

November 1st 2011 ~ "Bovine TB continues to ravage our communities, and has already led to the slaughter of around 6,000 cattle in Wales in 2010. The impact in terms of animal welfare and the emotional and financial effect it has on farming families is acute."

Wales Online quotes Brian Richards, the newly appointed vice chairman of the Farmers' Union of Wales milk and dairy produce committee, who is concerned that the Welsh bovine TB review panel has not not reported to Minister John Griffiths "in a timely manner". (Update Nov 3rd - warmwell.com apologises for the error on Nov 1st in which Brian Richards' title was wrongly given.) .

November 1st 2011 ~ DEFRA statistics show a provisional 5.3% increase in the number of new TB incidents for January to July 2011, compared with the same period in 2010.

The website www.tbfreeengland.co.ukpoints out that, combined with a decrease in the number of herds tested over the same period,
"this equates to a provisional overall increase in the TB incidence rate of 7.3%. Between January and July this year, 20,603 cattle were compulsorily slaughtered, compared with 19,421 during the same period in 2010. There were 5,359 herds under movement restrictions on July 31. The current incidence rate and numbers of reactors slaughtered to date indicate that around 36,000 cattle could be slaughtered by the end of the year - a significant increase on both 2009 and 2010. "
These raw statistics cannot begin to convey the stress and unhappiness that bTB brings.

October 12th 2011 ~ First UK badger vaccination Trial results published - Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

See their website here:
"...Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust ran the programme at seven of its nature reserves, including a dairy farm; a total of 170 hectares.
The report outlines the full costs involved in the trial and demonstrates that if groups of land owners join together to vaccinate badgers against bTB, it would become affordable with no associated negative impact. Culling, as its most vocal supporters admit, may increase bTB in neighbouring herds through perturbation and as yet no proven benefit."
However, see also recent comments on the viability of badger vaccine from Dr Ruth Watkins. (While warmwell.com is fiercely in favour of vaccination against animal disease when the efficacy of the vaccines is proven - as for foot and mouth - the assumption that badgers can all be successfully vaccinated against bTB is, very sadly, misplaced.)

October 2nd ~ Caroline Spelman tells the Tories: "when it comes to stopping the relentless march of Bovine TB..."

(See full speech)
"...after a decade of dither, this government is proposing a tough, new package of measures to finally control this disease.
A disease which has brought with it a terrible personal and economic toll.
Labour oppose the package we've put forward.
But like everything they oppose, they've no credible alternative.
When it comes to the countryside, they just don't get it.
The only time they encounter it is when they are desperately chasing a bandwagon through it.
We get it, we value and we are here to serve it." ( See the rest of her speech)
And that was all there was to tell them on bTB. ( At least so far we seem to have been spared the ubiquitous 2001 FMD phrase "bearing down on the disease" when the government meant "killing probably uninfected animals" but until we get better tests and speeded up development of usable vaccines, bTB control means just that.)

October 2nd 2011 ~ The real importance of microbiologist input into the debate

Among the very decent, genuinely interested and worried members of Twitter (such as http://twitter.com/#!/Badger_Friendly) who write about the badger cull, there are those who appear to think that a microbiologist or two may be at a meeting of Badger and Farming interests organised by Brian May. But the presence of a microbiologist there merely to answer questions is not enough. Dr Ruth Watkins writes about the advantages of expert input from microbiologists and virologists who understand the intracacies of the the disease and what measures for diagnosis, vaccination and treatment might practically be arrived at as a strategy to control disease without wholesale slaughter. The killing of mostly uninfected animals was deeply repugnant to us in foot and mouth - as repugnant as it is to Brian May in the case of the badger and bTB. She says
"I cannot find what (tests) the Canadians are developing but it was mentioned in one of the pieces that they were collaborating with the Irish TB group. That is likely to mean they are looking at detecting individual selected TB proteins or at detecting antibodies to such TB proteins.
Any strategy for bTB control should be developed by a quorum of microbiologists with expertise in TB. Some might be clinicians as well, but in human medicine, control is achieved where it can be - not by killing swathes of the human population, but by complex means which may include developing new tests etc.
And it is not one single microbiologist or virologist who comes up with the idea but a peer reviewed quorum(s) of experts in the subject that move on with developments in a focused and systematic way.
This type of microbiology expertise, matched with clinical experience, simply does not exist in veterinary medicine."
Yes. Where are the microbiologists? (If you're in the UK and missed Brian May talking about the proposed badger cull on the One Show it is 15.05 mins into the recording on Sept 30th.)

October 2nd 2011 ~" There's just been a Cabinet round-robin..."

The Mail on Sunday reports that the Home Secretary, Teresa May responded to the Cabinet round-robin by pointing out that if a badger cull takes place during the Olympics, there are "fears about police resources being stretched when it's all hands to the pump... "
"Labour seized on the Home Secretary's worries by stepping up their attack on proposed budget cuts which opponents say could lead to 16,000 fewer police officers. Shadow Policing Minister Vernon Coaker said...."Instead of discussing badger culls she should reverse the massive cuts to police officers she has forced through. She is taking an unacceptable risk with public safety especially in the Olympics year."

September 29th 2011 ~ bTB up 3.8% in first half of 2011 compared to 2010

UK bovine tuberculosis cases rose 3.8 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period a year earlier, the National Farmers Union has said in a report, citing DEFRA's own figures. See Bloomberg "Between January and June, 18,082 cattle were slaughtered after testing positive for tuberculosis, according to the report. About 5,661 herds were under movement restrictions because of the disease..".

September 29th 2011 ~ Canada is on the trail of new Bovine TB screening tests

The Canadian Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz, has announced an investment of nearly 320,000 canadian dollars to the Canadian Cattlemen's Association to help the association evaluate alternative tests that will be more reliable and cost-effective than the current tuberculin skin test. "Having a rapid, simple and inexpensive blood test that can detect bovine TB in cattle will help to achieve the final eradication of this insidious disease sooner than is possible with existing tools," CCA President Travis Toews. See www.marketwire.com
The association will work in cooperation with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the US Department of Agriculture on the evaluation study. Once again, the naive question is, "Will successful results of a project such as this be shared with all countries?" Cooperation in costs and expertise would surely be of benefit to the whole global community - particularly the UK, where the disease is so disastrously out of control.

September 28th 2011 ~ TB is a disease that transcends party politics

The Farmers Weekly reports that the NFU has called on the Labour party to take the politics out of the debate around culling badgers to combat bovine TB. Peter Kendall criticised the shadow DEFRA minister, Mary Creag, for trying to generate anti-cull support at the same time as the government was consulting on whether to carry out pilot badger culls in TB hotspots. The paper quotes him:
"We are just dipping our toe in the water with this This is not about a free for all for farmers to do as they like. Caroline Spelman has consulted on the practicalities of a cull. If she does give the go ahead there will be two pilots that are analysed for their efficacy. The science tells us at the very worst we will get a 16% reduction. But elsewhere in similar trials in Ireland there has been a 30% reduction.
He told the NFU and Food and Drink Federation fringe event at the Labour party conference, "Rather than stir up a feeling it won't work, how about for the next year we give this one chance to see if it works? Then after that you can come back and challenge us. Let's not stir up the public about something that is so vital for the farming industry". Read in full.

September 28th 2011 ~ RBCT data " I am not sure what the comments regarding small sample size are referring to," writes an emailer

An emailer takes issue with a comment below:
"Regarding small sample sizes, this is important because small sample size gives large statistical error. However both the post where the recent data has been posted and the review in the link which you give supply confidence intervals.
As sample size reduces, confidence intervals tend to increase and the size of these intervals gives an indication of statistical error.
Figs 42a and 42b in the review at http://www.bovinetb.info/rbct.php show these confidence intervals. Judging by their size for data taken in the adjoining lands where perturbation was most pronounced, these intervals and hence error are just as large, in fact significantly bigger, than the intervals in the culling areas where beneficial effects are seen.
In fact these intervals for the most recent data are smaller than the intervals for data which exhibited the effects of perturbation during the cull. In view of this I am not sure what the comments regarding small sample size are referring to. Were they referring to the sample size of data portraying the detrimental effects of perturbation or the continuing beneficial effects seen in the proactive areas or perhaps some completely different data?..."
read in full

September 28th 2011 ~ Caroline Spelman tells FWi the focus of the consultation " focussing on the efficacy of this method of culling and the humaneness"

The video on the link records Ms Spelman saying "We've listened to all the stakeholders.... we will take their (NFU) concerns into account as we weigh up the responses to the consultation...the culling of badgers is just one part of that package...it's important that people should see the package in the round.."
What comes across most strongly is her remark that she is "reasonably confident" that a badger cull would go ahead in England.

September 27th 2011 ~ Labour would continue with the trial culls if they return to power - despite its outrage at the policy

The Farmers Guardian reports:
"The Labour Party has joined organisations like 38 Degrees and the Badger Trust in campaigning against government plans for a cull in England. Mrs Creagh told an NFU Food and Drink Federation fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference ......."when we get back in 2015 we will have to carry on", because the science showed stopping after two or three years would be the worst scenario. She said it would be grossly irresponsible to stop the cull at that point...."
Read article

September 27th 2011 ~ "the latest analysis suggests that farmers are still seeing beneficial effects." A volte face from Imperial College?

Last Friday, Professor Christl Donnelly posted additional information on the situation as interpreted by her team in the original paper, "The Duration of the Effects of Repeated Widespread Badger Culling on Cattle Tuberculosis Following the Cessation of Culling" on RBCT data. In the original paper, their conclusion had been:
Conclusions/Significance
Our findings show that the reductions in cattle TB incidence achieved by repeated badger culling were not sustained in the long term after culling ended and did not offset the financial costs of culling. These results, combined with evaluation of alternative culling methods, suggest that badger culling is unlikely to contribute effectively to the control of cattle TB in Britain."
This was reported in July by the Guardian as "Localised badger culling can more than double the risk of TB infecting cattle, a new Medical Research Council study has shown."
Culling stopped in the RBCT trials in October 2005. It is of significance that she now writes:
" As of 28 August 2011 herd incidences in proactively culled areas are still 11% lower than in control areas where no culling took place.
However some caution should be made regarding this because the last 6-monthly value tends to change significantly when more data becomes available. As shown in Fig 29 at http://www.bovinetb.info/rbct.php this has happened on 2 previous occasions and sizeable changes were made to this last value. However the latest analysis suggests that farmers are still seeing beneficial effects."
(Comments about the technical information in the link - not easy for the layman - would be welcome.) Comment received: "...extra data not peer reviewed & estimates some from small samples...It is when you have a few small samples in the mix, for example say sample = 3 farms had outbreaks, 2 stopped that's 66% reduction" Another: This isn't about scientists changing minds: time goes on, more data becomes available; that's what changes."

September 24th 2011 ~Downward Trend? What downward trend?

The indefatigable Captain Bryn Wayt has written to Paul Flynn and others about his EDM 1591 (Signatures presently stand at 97) While we support Mr Flynn's wish that the Secretary of State should
"take account of the opportunities now offered by successful badger vaccination trials and to prepare the way with Brussels for the earliest possible application and introduction of cattle vaccines that offer the only real long-term solution"
nevertheless, including the phrase
"..this House notes the encouraging downward trend in bovine TB incidence in England and Wales"
is surely misleading. As Capt Wayt points out, DEFRA's own very careful figures (their original figure of 7.4% has been reduced to 6.1% since we received his email) make clear that
"Provisional statistics show a 3.8% increase in the number of new TB incidents in January - June 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. Combined with a decrease in the number of herds tested over the same period, this equates to a provisional overall increase in the TB incidence rate (new TB incidents, as a proportion of tests on OTF herds) of 6.1%.."
7.4% or 6.1% - either figure is worrying and to suggest there is a "downward trend" in bTB cases in hotspots seems disingenuous.

September 24th 2011 ~ Far too complicated

An email from an interested farmer in Kansas says:
"...the constraints put in place to even begin to qualify for a licence will be self-limiting in themselves. It took an awful lot of time and money to even begin to write such documents, let alone publish them. There are so many limitations, that I believe compliance will be extremely difficult. I wouldn't even want to try...." (Email)
This is pretty much what the NFU says too, in its response to the Consultation. It has advised the Government to make the rules more manageable if farmers are to be expected to carry out a cull satisfactorily. The TB management agreements tie farmers into culling on their land for four years in order to make sure that culling programmes are completed. The NFU has pointed out that licenses would be held by companies, which would not have any power over individual parcels of land if circumstances changed. As for tenanted land, both the landlord and the tenant would have to enter a culling agreement whereas only the person actually farming the land should be involved. The NFU has also objected that the deposit required by companies to pay for their licence is based on calculations projected by bureaucrats. The cost of such a deposit should be calculated on farmers' own expected costs. See also Western Morning News

September 22nd 2011 ~ Peter Kendall and NFU response to the consultation:"...we have set out very clearly how industry can deliver a humane and effective cull..."

The NFU President said,
"We are supportive of the announcement made by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman about a proposed cull back in July.
We want to see an effective, carefully managed and science-led policy of badger controls.
For it to work effectively it must be part of a range of measures, including a combination of existing cattle tests, movement restrictions, the slaughter of test-positive animals, good on-farm bio-security and, longer-term, vaccination.
We are confident that farmers and wildlife managers are ready and able to meet the challenges ahead. We have planned and are fully prepared to put in place self-financing groups that will meet the requirements of the proposals. "
Read in full

September 21st 2011 ~ "complete about turn and leaves the dairy farming industry in Wales in confusion and concern"

Welsh farmers had expected a pilot cull of badgers to begin in north Pembrokeshire last summer. The new Labour-led Welsh Government came to power in May and decided that a review panel - which has not yet reported - needed to re-examine the science behind a badger cull. FWi article yesterday quotes Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire AM, Angela Burns.
"There was a time when the assembly overwhelmingly supported the government, the chief veterinary officer and the scientists, yet a mere 90 days later the new environment minister, who is now the person in charge of animal welfare, called a sudden halt to the programme. It's a complete about turn and leaves the dairy farming industry in Wales in confusion and concern."
Read in full.

September 16th 2011 ~ Consultation on Guidance to Natural England on the implementation and enforcement of a badger control policy

Farming organisations have only until next Tuesday, September 20th, to respond to DEFRA's consultation. Natural England's long and complicated annexes to the main document make for depressing and time-consuming reading. It is
"an opportunity for key stakeholders to comment on the draft guidance. A list of those stakeholders invited to respond to this consultation is attached at Annex B."
Here is an attempt to put the whole lot, including all the annexes, together on a single HTML page - apologies that tables are not very clear but at least the documents can be skimmed or searched for keywords in one go.

September 16th 2011 ~ "oral vaccine for badgers is still our ultimate goal," says Nigel Gibbens "we will never be able to eradicate TB in cattle without addressing its presence in badgers"

The CVO has answered several questions about the badger cull on the website of 38 Degrees (illustration- healthy badger sniffing the daisies) Professor Gibbens does his best to answer the questions posed.
Meanwhile, the National Beef Association (NBA) has met DEFRA to convey its concern about Natural England's current stance and that "a strong working relationship be formed between Natural England and Animal Health". Kim Haywood, NBA director says:
"It is absolutely critical that Animal Health is involved and that their expert advisors play a role. The two bodies must work together to ensure the proposed badger cull works and the incidence of TB in cattle and wildlife in this country is reduced."

September 15th 2011 ~ evaluation of new diagnostic blood tests for Bovine Tuberculosis in cattle (Canada)

At present, the difficulties in accurately detecting bovine TB have (as the Hallmark Boxster case showed with great clarity) led to unknown numbers of perfectly healthy, uninfected bovines being among the thousands killed after routine TB testing on UK farms. Both the skin test in live animals and post mortem inspection of slaughter animals are, as this report from Canada points out, cumbersome, costly, and yet just not accurate enough. It continues:
"Commercial tests have been developed by several diagnostic companies in Europe and the United States, and these companies have agreed to make their tests available for evaluation. A project being conducted over the next three years administered through the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) will enter into agreements with four or five of these companies, where the companies will provide their blood test kits for comparison to evaluate the tests' ability to detect known TB-infected cattle. Under these agreements, the test kits would be provided to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for evaluation of their performance by CFIA scientists... serologic assays, may assist in achieving the final eradication of bovine TB from livestock sooner than is currently possible with existing tools .."
Read in full at www.cattle.ca (Grateful thanks to MM in Vermont.)

September 13th 2011 ~ "DEFRA believes it has no lessons to learn from the Hallmark Boxster case."

"Are they suggesting his immune response is hiding a truly infected animal?" This question, in an excellent and lengthy article in today's Yorkshire Post, is posed by Hallmark Boxster's family after the question posed by the paper,
"Does Defra now accept that the first blood test on Boxster gave a false positive and what steps can be taken to avoid a repeat of that mistake?"
received the extraordinarily phrased answer
"...there are a number of factors that can lead to different test results at different times including: no diagnostic test being 100 per cent accurate; the time elapsed between tests; and the complex nature of animals' immune responses to the TB bacteria, which are not static but evolve over time."
When asked why farmers cannot be allowed to pay for their own tests "when there is reason to doubt a result from Animal Health and/or the animal is especially valuable", DEFRA's somewhat questionable reply was that the interferon-gamma test "has a very high degree of accuracy and about 97 per cent of cattle that test positive will be true positives". (But see expert comment)
They add solemnly, "It is our duty to remove the animals. Given the seriousness of the bovine TB problem it is important that controls are applied consistently and with rigour." Read in full
One wonders how many will conclude that there are indeed lessons to be learned, among which would be the advice to DEFRA not to risk wasting the sort of time and money caused by their intransigence over Hallmark Boxster, and finally to accept that of course farmers should indeed be permitted to pay for retests "when there is reason to doubt a result from Animal Health and/or the animal is especially valuable" (Last year, Washington State University developed a new test with "increased specificity" and "highly sensitive" compared to the interferon gamma test. One wonders sadly if or when it will ever be used.)

September 13th 2011 ~ New Zealand: " What was the purpose of the aerial toxin drop?" asks the Kiwi Party

As we report below, New Zealand's use of the controversial poison 1080 to try to solve its bTB problem, causes considerably more misery than it solves. New Zealand's Kiwi Party has issued a press release following the news of the death of 7 radio-tracked keas:
"... an explanation and apology from the Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson is called for.....Although a supposed kea repellent was used, any person should realise keas are highly inquisitive parrots which, repellent or no repellent, are almost certain to investigate any poison bait.
Questions surround the whole use of 1080. What was the purpose of the aerial toxin drop? If it was aimed at the possum, is there actually a possum problem? Reports from the West Coast indicate low numbers, verified by an almost complete lack of road kills. If it's bovine TB, that is the Animal Health Board's responsibility not DOC's. In any case the TB issue also demands scrutiny since the TB skin test used on cattle has a 20 percent error rate which in essence means one in 10 cattle with TB is not detected by the test..." Read in full
bTB carrying possums are officially the intended target - but since the researchers in recent vaccine trials (see below) expressed themselves "confident that possums can be successfully orally vaccinated without having to capture them", the use of 1080 seems even more undesirable. How slowly humane alternatives seem to be accepted by officialdom everywhere. See also abstract at www.curehunter.com
".. Results from trials in a number of animal species indicate that oral BCG vaccination can reduce disease severity following experimental challenge with Mycobacterium bovis and in a recent field trial, oral BCG vaccination was shown to prevent infection of wild possums following natural exposure to M. bovis. ... recent studies in cattle and wildlife have demonstrated the practicality and effectiveness of vaccinating animals against tuberculosis and provide much impetus for future use of vaccines."
In the UK, the argument in favour of culling infected badgers in hotspots carries a lot of weight since the problems with vaccines (and the EU trade rules) have seemed so intractable and bovines in whom infection is not certain are being killed in their thousands. But even here, surely no one would allow the indiscrimate killing of wildlife with a particularly unpleasant poison? Informed comments welcome.

September 9th 2011 ~ "buried in the labyrinth of the DEFRA website, are a handful of annexes issued by Natural England on the operating procedure which they expect from any signatories to this cull."

The Bovine TB Blog today reveals that, when asked, Peter Kendall said that he had not read Natural England's proposals. The blog says (extract) :
"... if any farmer wants to understand the commitment being asked for, and if you read nothing else from the Natural England library... have a look at their costings in Annex C.
The bio security obligations intended to form part of the package, but are said to be 'not stand alone' are in in Annex D. and Annex E.
A working draft of the NE Management Agreement in Annex F.
How to shoot a badger (with illustrations -above) in Annex G.
And how to prevent impact on non-participants in Annex H..."
The post - and other posts on this very well informed website - needs to be read in full, along with its links. As the author wryly remarks, "The farming organisations who are invited to answer the consultation on these proposals have until September 20th to respond on their members' behalf." (That's Tuesday week.)

September 8th 2011 ~ Whose responsibility?

The CVO, Nigel Gibbens, has answered some questions about the bTB policy in today's Farmers Guardian. Some of his remarks seem to consitute a somewhat unfortunate attempt to justify the fact that farmers will have to pay the piper (see Hansard) while DEFRA insists on calling the tune:
"...Ultimately it is in the industry's own best interest to eradicate this disease, but Government will have checks in place and failure to cull effectively once a licence has been issued will not be tolerated."
He repeats that "a cattle vaccine and an oral badger vaccine are still many years away" without explaining the difficulties inherent in using a vaccine against such a complex bacterium. It seems unlikely that the tone of his answers will serve to quieten opposition; it does seem a little rich, considering the level of responsibility shown by the government in animal disease control, for the CVO to say:
"Anyone applying to cull will need to show they take the responsibility seriously and are committed to delivering culling effectively and humanely for at least four years, otherwise it could make matters worse."
- particularly since Mr Paice has made it clear that although farmers will be expected to pay the full cost upfront "it is not possible at this stage to provide a figure for the average sum. Government would be able to access these funds in the event that it needed to intervene, and be able to levy additional funds from the original participants should that be necessary."

September 7th 2011 ~ Anthony Gibson: " the government seems to be loading far too much risk and far too much cost on to the farming community and not taking enough responsibility itself."

Farmers fear that current proposals for the humane culling of badgers need radical changes. Asking farmers to sign up to a four-year cull with few government guarantees is akin to "writing a blank cheque to DEFRA". The arrangements have to be practical and workable. Farmers Weekly quotes Mr Gibson:
"If they are not, then nobody is going to go in for it. That is the immediate priority - to get the proposals changed so they are actually workable for the farmers who are going to do the culling. They need radical or significant improvement. On the face of it, the government seems to be loading far too much risk and far too much cost on to the farming community and not taking enough responsibility itself."
As FWi points out, Anthony Gibson is a former NFU communications director, but has been recalled by theNFU to work on its media strategy for such issues as bovine TB, CAP reform and milk prices. He took up his new role yesterday.
See also Hansard 5th Sept on "Badgers" Extract:
" Participants would be required to deposit sufficient funds to cover the total expected cost of the four-year cull (plus a contingency sum) before culling begins. The amount that would be required to be deposited would vary according to the size and nature of the culling operation in each area so it is not possible at this stage to provide a figure for the average sum. Government would be able to access these funds in the event that it needed to intervene, and be able to levy additional funds from the original participants should that be necessary." (More)

September 7th 2011 ~" the belligerent bureaucratic juggernaut that poisons because it can.." New Zealand

Even farmers are disgusted at the aerial drop of the poison 1080 over the NZ forests of North & South Okarito. As we have said below, this poison, designed to kill wild carriers of bTB, is indiscriminate and very unpleasant indeed. See New Zealand's Farmers Against Ten Eighty

September 6th 2011 ~ The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers calls on DEFRA to review its TB clearance policy

Farmers Weekly today quotes RABDF chairman David Cotton
"Farmers, including myself, are waiting an average of two weeks from the tests results being received to removal from the farm by facilitators managed by AHVLA. During that period those cattle have to be isolated and run the further risk of infecting wildlife. .." Read in full
When one remembers what such a wait actually entails, one is reminded of the heartbreaking wait during FMD as affected farmers had to watch and feed doomed animals - many pregnant - every day until they were finally killed by officialdom and removed.

September 5th 2011 ~ "We have had donations from £5.00 through to £500.00 "

As we say below, the camelid TB support group is sponsoring an important PCR trial being conducted at the VLA. (See PCR button on the www.alpacatb.com website) and donations towards this project were asked for. For reasons hard to fathom, the "official" British Alpaca Society have decline to support the project. Dianne Summers writes today:
"This project has had more support from the cattle industry and suppliers than our own and that is very sad indeed."
The amount needed now is about £5,800 and any concerned reader of warmwell.com may like to go to the relevant page of the alpacatb.com website to see how to donate to this interesting project in which many of us have a great deal of hope. As they say, "Any donations from a pound up will be appreciated."

August 31st 2011 ~ "for an official of the Agency charged with delivering government policy to appear on the radio arguing against government policy is in my view unacceptable." Peter Kendall

Following Natural England's statement on the subject of the proposed badger cull (see below) that it has a "low level of confidence that the predicted benefits can be delivered consistently" under the proposed policy, it has been criticised by both the National Beef Association and the NFU. The NBA has said its TB committee wants Animal Health to replace Natural England as Licensing authority and co-ordinator of the proposed badger cull. (See NBA press release)
Meanwhile, Farmers Weekly today says the NFU have written a formal letter of complaint to DEFRA after a Natural England official, speaking on Farming Today, said that the method of culling being proposed by DEFRA was not "evidence-based" and raised questions about the size of culling areas.
"....Speaking about the letter Mr Kendall said: "It was already bad enough that Natural England had submitted an extremely unhelpful response to the consultation on issuing licences to cull badgers. But for an official of the Agency charged with delivering government policy to appear on the radio arguing against government policy is in my view unacceptable. The ultimate aim, to eradicate bTB, will require concerted working from all parties..."
DEFRA, it seems, said it was "an issue for the NFU and Natural England".

August 31st 2011 ~ " the presence of hedges reduces badger-cattle transmission because a higher proportion of contaminated grass is kept out of the reach of cattle"

@farmerpaula on Twitter reminded her readers today of a blog post written in 2009 about a paper written in 2006 - a paper which seems to have received little interest:
"... A piece of research I had no idea existed. And the one thing we have on this farm? Exceptional density of hedges…with very few gaps; in fact we have many more hedges now than were present on the 1840 Tithe Map. Could this be (and I hardly dare think it, let alone say it) a reason why we 'continue' (whispered very quietly) to go clear?..."
(Read full blogpost)
The research paper, Bovine tuberculosis in cattle: reduced risk on wildlife-friendly farms (pdf) by F Mathews (from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford) et al, published in Biol. Lett. (2006) 2, 271 - 274 doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0461 Published online 7 March 2006 or read the paper's Discussion as a html page
"....An alternative, and possibly complementary strategy is to establish the ecological conditions associated with the spill-over of disease and to manage these (Dobson 2005). We studied the multifactorial reality of British farmland ecosystems and found, using recent advances in statistical modelling, a link between farmland habitat management and bTB risk. The collective effects of ecological factors were marked. We conclude that managing the landscape in ways that are also beneficial to conservation generally may provide an additional means of controlling bTB." (Discussion Section of paper.)

August 30th 2011 ~ In France they have found just one cow positive and intend to kill the entire herd of 338 immediately

A single cow from a large herd in the Cantal of Allanche (in the Auvergne) has been identified at an abattoir as bTB positive - and there is deep consternation. Killing the entire herd seems a severe reaction - but France is very concerned that bTB should not become a French problem as it is in Britain.
An article today at www.lamontagne.frpoints out that since the last case in France was in 2005, although testing at abattoirs does continue, routine testing does not take place on farms any more. It will be a difficult task to trace the source of the infection, says the article. The farms in the cantal of Allanche are now under restrictions and all animals in the area around the affected farm will be screened. In France, which has considered itself free of bTB for five years, any disease considered a zoonosis - as bTB is considered there - the owner of animals killed as a result is reimbursed enough to restock animals considered to be of the same financial value. Although France considers the risk of bTB to people is "faible", it is interesting that today's article does mention the "risks to those who have had close and constant contact with animals at the infected premises."

August 27th 2011 ~ Jubilation as Hallmark Boxster rejoins his herd

The photos in the Yorkshire Post's article show both human and bovine joy. The article:
"...he and the herd have finally been given the all-clear by vets...
Upon being let loose from the pen the animal charged gleefully into the field, playing with the other members of the herd and lifting his legs high in the air, cheered on by the whole Jackson family.
Mr Jackson's daughter Kate McNeil ..."I've only just stopped crying. It doesn't seem real. We have had fantastic support from so many people."
DEFRA spent more than £130,000 taxpayers' money in an attempt to justify the Department's stance in this case. Warmwell's Hallmark Boxster page has followed the case from the beginning. The raw emotions of this case bring into focus the fact that at present there are many other bovines killed on evidence that is far from water tight - but most farmers are unable to fight a bureaucracy that is adamant about its own right to withstand challenge.

August 26th 2011 ~ "Conclusions: The IS6110_T assay provides a PCR based assay system that is compatible with current diagnostic protocols for the detection of M. bovis in the USA and complements current testing strategies."

An interesting paper from BMC Veterinary Research 2011, 7:50 which begins
"Culture of M. bovis from diagnostic specimens is the gold standard for bovine tuberculosis diagnostics in the USA. Detection of M. bovis by PCR in tissue homogenates may provide a simple rapid method to complement bacterial culture. A significant impediment to PCR based assays on tissue homogenates is specificity since mycobacteria other than M. bovis may be associated with the tissues..."
The paper's title: Improved specificity for detection of Mycobacterium bovis in fresh tissues using IS6110 real-time PCR. (It seems sadly inevitable that urgently needed and valuable research takes place behind closed doors in different countries. Comments welcome)

August 25th 2011 ~ "...implications for potential disease spread and zoonotic risk to owners and animal handlers, including veterinarians."

A letter in the Veterinary Record this week. Extract:
"... In the majority of cases of TB in alpacas, the source of infection is thought to be spillover of infection from other animals such as cattle and wildlife. ......... The owners and attending veterinary surgeon involved in this case had regularly flushed the discharging lesion, possibly creating bacterial aerosols. We would urge colleagues to be aware of the potential of TB in udder lesions of alpacas, and to consider the associated risk involved in the treatment of such lesions."
Read letter in full. (Thanks are due to Dianne Summers for the link) Comment received from Dr Ruth Watkins.

August 24th 2011 ~ "not once has Natural England mentioned this low level of confidence that we can deliver." Kevin Pearce

Kevin Pearce's NFU Blog today refutes the opinion given by Natural England (below) about their lack of confidence in a farmer-led badger cull being able to replicate what has only previously been undertaken by government. He writes:
"At the NFU detailed discussions have been held with Natural England about industry plans for delivering the control policy. We've shared our thoughts on legal structures, extensive management plans, guidance and training packages and strict biosecurity measures and not once has Natural England mentioned this low level of confidence that we can deliver. If the Natural England Board is so concerned why has it not sought to speak with us or look at the huge body of work that has been undertaken so far?"
He says that what worries him particularly is that Natural England is an advisory body that provides advice to ministers and the paper makes their advice to ministers public before the end of the consultation period. "... it's clear Natural England do not believe in the policy, don't want to do it and will do everything it can to frustrate the proper process."

August 24th 2011 ~ Expert panel that will review the scientific evidence base has now been named.

Welsh chief scientific adviser, Professor John Harries, and the recently appointed chairman of the panel, Professor Christopher Gaskell (principal of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester), have announced the panel. Their names have been reported at www.salisburyjournal.co.uk The panel is expected to report in the Autumn.

August 23rd 2011 ~"..we have a low level of confidence that the predicted benefits can be delivered consistently" Natural England

This is from Natural England's response (pdf) to "Consultation on guidance to Natural England on the implementation and enforcement of a badger control policy August 2011" Although their response to the consultation acknowledges that
"Badgers play an important role in the transmission of this disease and we recognise that it will take an integrated and multi-faceted approach to disease control to succeed in reducing bTB prevalence..."
they are aware that the minimum criteria for culling may not be achievable in a farmer-led cull . The "complexity of the regulatory regime required to ensure successful outcomes" is of concern. Culling critiera are defined as:

August 22nd 2011 ~ The majority of people polled were unaware of the link between badgers, cattle and bTB

The NFU commissioned "England Marketing", to carry out an online survey between May 15 and 24. The Farmers Guardian discusses the results.

August 20th 2011 ~ A very good question

In February this year, Emma McClarkin, MEP, submitted to the EU Commission a "Question for written answer" After explaining that a constituent had written to her about bovine TB and EU Directive 78/52/EEC, she asked the Commission to estimate how much the slaughter of infected cattle costs the European taxpayer, and secondly,
"... can the Commission explain why, if an effective vaccine were developed, its use would be prohibited by the EU Directive?"
The official - very carefully worded - answer to this question was given on 8 March 2011 by the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli, on behalf of the Commission. Read in full - but the important bit is:
"...Current rules do not allow the use of vaccines against TB in cattle mainly due to the interference with the only official test (skin test) and the suboptimal effectiveness of existing vaccines.
If a candidate vaccine succeeds in showing scientifically sufficient protection and no interference with diagnostic tests, this vaccine might be an additional tool to accelerate TB eradication under certain circumstances. For this, EU and international (OIE) rules will need to be substantially amended."
Any information about the current state of validation for DIVA tests would be gratefully received.

August 20th 2011 ~ But didn't pasteurisation stop human beings getting bovine TB?

A note entitled, "Information on TB in cattle, badgers and camelids" on the website of the British Blue Cattle Organisation (does any reader know the author?) gives, on page 5 and 6 of the pdf file, information and links about recent known cases of bTB in humans. One Health Protection Agency Report report concluded that bovine TB was "an under- appreciated cause of disease and death in humans." and
"Similar outbreaks of M tuberculosis, and, to a lesser extent, M bovis, are possible unless public health control measures are instituted and maintained." (See BBC report from 2007)
An article in the Veterinary Record expressed particular concern about the healthy young female vet whose bTB was confirmed following contact with a TB-infected alpaca.
"... Pasteurisation of milk has effectively reduced expo- sure to M bovis for many people, but there is still a risk of infection for people whose occupation involves close contact with tuberculous animals; these cases usually present as pulmonary TB (Gallagher and Jenkins 1998, Cousins and Dawson 1999, Grange 2001, Thoen and others 2006, de la Rua-Domenech 2006)."

August 20th 2011 ~ In February, the RCVS warned that" the continually growing reservoir of this serious disease presents a potential threat to human health"

The Royal Society of Veterinary Surgeons, in its Response to the DEFRA Consultation said:
"It is important to note that bTB is a zoonotic disease and failure to tackle the continually growing reservoir of this serious disease presents a potential threat to human health, both to those who work with farm animals and in situations where companion animals, that live in close proximity to humans, may have contracted the disease from infected wildlife or farmed animals. History and the actions of Governments in other countries have shown that this disease can be controlled and eradicated.
For the above reasons the RCVS considers that it is imperative that the Government prioritises the development and implementation of an effective science-based approach to tackling bTB. ... it is important to note that the scientific evidence in this field has been interpreted in different ways, not least because tackling bTB is an intensely political issue.."
The RCVS went on to urge that Government be prepared to "take difficult political decisions in order to implement, oversee, monitor and manage any effective policy to control and eradicate the disease..the significant reservoir of the disease in wildlife, and in particular badgers, cannot be ignored." Read in full

August 20th 2011 ~ The legal costs of court action over Hallmark Boxter - " a huge waste of public money".

The Yorkshire Post reports:
"Defra said the bill comprises Mr Jackson's legal costs and the fees of its counsel. But last night Mr Jackson said: "My legal costs alone have come to £114,000, Defra have offered me £90,000 and I will have to take advice on this. I would not like to think how much this has cost the taxpayer overall - it has been a huge waste of public money."
See also warmwell's Hallmark Boxster page

August 19th 2011 ~ "Sometimes we have to do what is unpopular because we know it is right": Peter Kendall

The BBC article " Badger cull heads for further consultation" includes a photograph of a badger with severe neck lesions in addition to the usual picture of healthy badgers.
We learn that 63% of people polled said badgers should not be killed for cattle TB. (Are those same people supportive of the present situation in which thousands of cows, unborn calves and bulls are killed on the evidence of a somewhat inaccurate test, all too easily incorrectly administered? See Hallmark Boxster case)
The notion that the answer is simply to let the bacterium run riot since, as one, albeit interesting, article at www.permaculture.co.uk puts it, "bovine TB isn't really much of a problem in the first place", ignores the increasing incidence of bTB spreading to other species, including cats and dogs - and inevitably, people.
The article contends that:
"The war on agricultural pests and diseases is an exercise in futility. So rather than trying to eradicate them I suggest we continue studying and observing and letting them tell us where we're going wrong."
In the sub-microscopic world, ever more ingenious and destructive pathogens are evolving and assailing the Goliath of our own systems with a David-like effectiveness. This is a life or death struggle in many cases. It would be interesting to know if other readers feel they should be merely "observed" in order to "tell us where we are going wrong". (Contact by email)

August 17th/18th 2011 ~ "There is no reason why they should not use the DIVA test now for cattle instead of the Bovigam test"

One correspondent to warmwell.com who really does know the science behind the bTB testing is the virologist and farmer, Dr Ruth Watkins. She writes here about Hallmark Boxster and about the false positives that would have condemned him - (had the Jacksons not been utterly convinced of the need to fight the Department with such perseverence) and that do condemn so many others in the same uninfected condition.
" ...DEFRA never repeat any positive results no matter how low, but hasten such cattle immediately to be killed. ...so many were killed on the basis of low gamma interferon results that were not skin test positive (like Hallmark Boxster) and none had any lesions PM, nor were the sample of animals from whom they cultured normal tissues found to be positive for M bovis on culture.
The replacement of the bovigam test by the DIVA test for cattle when they vaccinate them will be much more specific and I hope give cleaner results..."
Read email

August 16th 2011 ~ Vindication at long last for Hallmark Boxster

It has taken 17 months and a great deal of resilience and determination for the Jacksons to prove that their beautiful British Blonde bull, Hallmark Boxster, has always been free of bovine TB. The whole story is on the Boxster page. On Sunday night DEFRA confirmed
: "This bull can be regarded as officially TB-free."
No apology for DEFRA's behaviour has been offered nor any admission as to how much taxpayer's money has been spent by DEFRA in trying to get the bull killed and forgotten. The slaughter order to kill Hallmark Boxster was issued in April 2010 by the Leeds division of Animal Health. DEFRA has agreed to pay costs within 10 days.
Back in April, the Judge, Mr Justice McCombe, quashing the slaughter notice on Hallmark Boxster, told DEFRA it had made
"a policy mountain out of what was a farm molehill".
DEFRA still insisted on yet another blood test. In this, unlike the Jacksons, they were given leave to carry it out.
Twelve months earlier, the bull had given a "marginal indication" in the gamma interferon test but his owner said the sample was invalid because DEFRA officials had not followed the correct procedures. He wanted the sample retaken, even offering to pay the costs. A year of wrangles followed with the farmer sticking to his guns.
In reprieving the bull, the judge refused DEFRA permission to appeal, although the Department could still have applied to the Court of Appeal.
The case had alrady cost £15,000 in legal fees - as sum that was supposed to have been paid by DEFRA within 14 days.
Mr Jackson described how the DEFRA vets had walked past the bull to test the rest of the herd, always refusing to give the bull a retest in spite of his pleas. His owner, Ken Jackson, is not the first to have challenged such a diagnosis, nor the first to be refused when he asked to pay privately for a retest . See Yorkshire Post for the most recent news

August 15th 2011 ~ "Why don't we just vaccinate cattle? If only it was that simple," says Kevin Pearce

On his blog, Mr Pearce (NFU Director of Regions) today catalogues what he sees as the current challenges with cattle vaccines. Extract:
"...while good progress is being made on the development of a DIVA test it will need to go through EU and International validation before it can be used.
The EU Bovine TB Regulations prohibit the use of the BCG vaccine in cattle. While it is possible to change the EU regulation, and I have discussed this with EU officials in the past, the EU moves very slowly on these issues. We also remain hampered by the fact that there is no real support from other Member States on this issue.
There are still questions about how effective the BCG vaccine is in cattle. There was a scientific paper published last summer which looked at a field evaluation of the efficacy of the BCG vaccine against Bovine TB in cattle in Ethiopia. That study concluded that "Overall, the protective efficacy of BCG was between 56% and 68% depending on the parameters selected."
It is useful to keep returning to the EU regulations. They are not set in stone and, as always, are more to do with trade than with disease control. Is it not they, more than perhaps anything else, that create the stumbling block to enthusiastic work on cattle vaccine for bTB? (The paper Kevin Pearce refers to is here.)

August 15th 2011 ~ New Zealand plans to poison its wildlife bTB reservoir with a new poison, zinc phosphide

Zinc phosphide would not be applied aerially. It would not be a replacement for the controversial 1080. (The poison 1080, still not banned in Australia and New Zealand causes poisoned animals a slow and very nasty death.)
We read at /www.stuff.co.nz that the new poison would be available in 3 or 4 months "The encapsulation and bait making would be done in Auckland, with the zinc phosphide chemical coming from either China or India. "DOC would first look at its cost-effectiveness and whether it was a humane poison and would need to trial the poison."

August 15th 2011 ~ Cattle in Wales are being tested ever more frequently and stringently

Christianne Glossop, quoted by the Farmers Guardian today, evidently wants to make it very clear that every effort is made in Wales to eradicate bTB on farms themselves and ensure no infected bovines are ever sold. Measures introduced so far include:

August 14th 2011 ~ Your farming correspondent writes: "if PCR technology can be used to detect TB infection in camelids, for what species will it not be be useful?" A very reasonable question.

Dr Colin Fink writes today in answer to the farmer interested in the use of PCR to detect bTB in camelids and who asked about its possible wider use (see below) :
"Some years ago we looked, in co-operation with DEFRA, at a herd known to be broken down with Mycobacterium bovis - cattle TB. We could not find the organism within the blood stream. This is one of the difficulties: fool proof diagnosis of an infectious state.
Many cattle may meet the organism, become skin test positive, but if allowed to live would remain well with the few organisms walled off in some area like the lungs or lymphoid tissues.
So even in so called 'broken down' cattle the most sensitive DNA detection techniques- PCR , would not find the organisms in blood. The organism hides and only occasionally showers in to the blood stream as it spreads.
At post-mortem these animals may have lymph nodes or a focus in one area or many areas, demonstrating infection and this may be confirmed by looking for the specific organism DNA by PCR..
There are many of us walking around having met M. tuberculosis but we have walled off a single lesion and remain well. In the cases of cattle infection, the risk is that something may trigger excretion of the organism during lactation, into the milk, and the possibility of passing this infection on to humans. Cattle that are lactating - and encouraged to remain milk producers, may be at higher risk of disseminated infection due to the physiological stress of lactation. - Others may know more about this .
In Camelids, there seems to be a genetic reluctance to produce a white cell or antibody response to Mycobacterium bovis and these animals quickly become overwhelmingly infected with (evidently) organisms within all body compartments including the blood stream. Hence the potential monitoring of blood or faeces for the organisms.
I suspect that there may be evidence within the literature for the nature of M.bovis infection in other species in the wild life pool but I do not know this."
As always, we are very grateful to experts who take the time to send informed comment such as this.

August 14th 2011 ~ Camelids: "If this project is successful the simplicity of taking a faecal sample or nasal swab to be tested at your local VLA would be a huge step forward."

Research Project into the use of PCR to detect bovine Tuberculosis in camelids. Details here - extract:
"Following a further meeting in July with scientists at the VLA we are pleased to announce that we have now signed contracts with AHVLA Weybridge to conduct such a study. This technique is already used successfully for other similar diseases and the AHVLA microbiologists are hopeful that due to the advanced gross pathology often found in camelids it may be possible to detect m.bovis in faeces, nasal swabs or blood.
The object of the project is to generate data for proof of concept for the use of PCR to detect M. bovis in camelids using samples taken from animals euthanised as part of the Defra TB surveillance program. The tests will be trialled on camelids that present with visible lesions."
Read in full. This project is ready to start now and, writes Dianne Summers, we need your support. X.If you own alpacas or llamas or have an interest in the use of PCR to detect bTB then please contribute to the cause. Donations for the PCR project will be 'ring fenced' and used only for the PCR project.

August 14th 2011 ~ "I'd be the first to admit that we still have some issues to resolve."

For those of us trying to approach this issue - so impossibly difficult for so many reasons - with a certain sympathy for the passionate views on all sides, we recommend the blog of Kevin Pearce who is giving the NFU view as calmly as he can:
"I know that there are a lot of people working hard .. to make sure that we get the opportunity to deliver an effective, efficient and humane badger control policy in addition to the rigorous cattle measures that we already have in place.. it does appear that at least ministers are prepared to allow the industry to deliver a control programme.. an enormous step forward.
So we can all sit back and whinge or we can get on with it and take control. Do we want to grasp the opportunity and try and get on top of TB or do we want to whinge about it for another decade or so?..."
Read also his latest blog post on the NFU view of scientific evidence, in which he points out that the RBCT areas have continued to be monitored since culling stopped and that data shows that the reduction of TB in the culled areas is not only sustained but it also improves over time - even the areas surrounding the RBCT cull showing a positive reduction in disease.
"If we are going to have this debate, let's have all evidence on the table, not just that convenient to the very proactive anti-cull lobby."
Unfortunately, the elephant in the room for those opposing the cull, many of whom may be insulated by where they live from any need to "grasp the opportunity" nor any desire "try and get on top of TB", is their genuine distress is that badgers are difficult to kill humanely and they can readily imagine many healthy badgers and cubs dying in terror. That culling badgers might protect thousands of cows that react to the skin test seems irrelevant.
What they are most certainly not encouraged to remember is the unstoppable nature of the bacterium itself. It now threatens not only exponentially increasing numbers of bovines, badgers and camelids but all susceptible mammals including people. The disease is horrible and largely untreatable- and the danger is increasing.

August 14th 2011 ~ Tesco acknowledges that bovine TB is 'one of Britain's biggest endemic animal health issues and that it needs to be addressed'

Tesco has had to retract - or at least clarify - a letter from a customer service manager that assured a customer, worried about the badger cull, that "none of the suppliers we source from take part in this activity".
Alistair Driver in the Farmers Guardian reports:
"....Responding to angry farmers who contacted it, Tesco sought to clarify its policy. It insisted the letter did not reflect its position on badger culling and said it was 'sorry that the customer service manager gave the wrong impression'
However, Tesco fell short of giving a commitment that it would source products from farmers involved in a badger cull... While it acknowledged that bovine TB is 'one of Britain's biggest endemic animal health issues and that it needs to be addressed', the retailer said the proposed badger cull was 'not something we have taken a position on'.
It has been pointed out that all the big supermarkets import beef and dairy products from Ireland and New Zealand, where wildlife culls to control disease have been in place. Read article

August 13th 2011 ~ "Remember at one stage, with this much vilified test, we had got the country to a point of being 98% clear of TB. What went wrong?"

A retired vet has written today. Extracts:
" . Governments of all persuasion wanted economies, so testing intervals were relaxed until they became ineffective. After Foot & Mouth, stock was sold from areas that were suspect to say the least...
... ever more concentrate diets, with some odd ingredients, as production became the name of the game... No wonder there are trace element and vitamin deficiencies.
.... The long term hope for vaccination has to overcome the resistance apparent in current EU regulations. Is DEFRA and the government prepared to stand up to the EU and push the necessary regulations through both Parliament and the EU? MAFF/DEFRA 's track record on standing up to Europe is not very encouraging.
...When it comes to the cull also there is NO totally humane method of culling...if a cull does take place then without exception EVERY ANIMAL should have a full Post Mortem. ..."
The email deserves to be read in full. Here is a vet who has seen many changes over a long life and is deeply saddened. He concludes: "My visiting Brock is no danger to cattle all local dairy herds have gone, Bill the head cowman long since gone to meet his maker and Alf, near ninety, now lives in a town. I miss their calls in the early hours around dawn, as they fetched some two hundred cows in."
British Dairy farming is indeed in deep trouble - and if we lose it the UK will be even more dependent on imports from abroad. In a Depression, supply chains from abroad become vulnerable.
UPDATE John, a farmer in Wiltshire, writes: "Cattle testing intervals have been stretched, but the areas where 4 year testing is in place remain the areas from which fewest reactors are found. I'm pretty sure that this area had a couple of tests at 2 year intervals in the late 60's but have returned to annual testing since - that is for those herds that test clear. A reactor means testing every 60 days, a reality for a substantial proportion of herds.
Your correspondent who wants full post-mortem of every badger culled is only going to find out how many have clinical symptoms, not how many are infected, so how useful is that? If PCR technology can be used to detect TB infection in camelids, for what species will it not be be useful?"

August 13th 2011 ~ " I may have overlooked some significant issues here so I would be interested in your thoughts."

Comments are invited from an emailer today who asks:
"Testing every 12 months in the South West is a major burden - let alone every 6 months - but could the halving of the number of cattle slaughtered in the IAA be largely due to more frequent testing?
The last section on the following page gives some detail. http://www.bovinetb.info/animals_tested_and_slaughtered.php
I may have overlooked some significant issues here so I would be interested in your thoughts."
Helpful comments, welcome as always.

August 10th 2011 ~ On gassing -" impossible to guarantee that a lethal dose is delivered to all animals in a sett."

While some claim that for frustrated farmers wanting to protect their herds, the most efficient, quiet and humane way - away from prying eyes - is to use exhaust gas to eradicate the wildlife reservoir, others are horrified at what one emailer to warmwell.com calls "an exceptionally cruel way of killing badgers".
We should appreciate links to informed information or papers on this issue. In the meantime, we have found a decision paper by the Welsh TB team (2008) : Fumigation as a badger culling technique (pdf) The paper concludes that it is highly unlikely that a method can be developed to deliver a lethal dose throughout a badger sett, there are no humane fumigants currently licensed, there is no reliable and standard method of producing CO, the only fumigant considered to be relatively humane - and indeed that "The effect of CO on badgers is unknown, particularly the effects of sub-lethal doses"
Every research organisation in the UK was contacted by the team to see if it were willing to support or carry out trials of CO as a gas to kill badgers.
None agreed nor was prepared to offer advice nor discuss the potential opportunity.
ws Read paper in full.

August 10th 2011 ~ "Why should that badger suffer a slow death over three or four years?"

This was a question asked by an unnamed farmer who explained to Radio 4's "The Report" on August 4 how some farmers are quietly taking matters into their own hands and using the exhaust from an old tractor to put to sleep all the members of a sett where TB infection is known. The Badger Trust say that such farmers are anything but 'law abiding citizens' and are now demanding that they must be named and prosecuted. See FG.
The Badger Trust is mentioned again by the Farmers Guardian today in an article about a letter sent to the BBC by the trust's chairman, David Williams. He demands to know where the makers of a Radio 4 programme obtained an estimate of UK badger population numbers, apparently unaware, as the FUW points out, that:
".. the figure is stated clearly in the Badger Trust's own 'Eurasian Badger Factsheet' which reveals that badger numbers have increased to 'a total estimated population of around 300,000'."

August 10th 2011 ~ "...we address the key question of whether oral BCG vaccination can actually reduce Tb infection rates in free-living animals .." .

Our own VLA researchers seem not to have yet found a way of orally delivering vaccine that only badgers will eat and that can survive long enough, once digested, to take effect. Unfortunately, if a cow were to eat the bait the TB skin test would show a reaction. All the same, we are intrigued by the claim in the Guardian on Saturday that, according to "a source close to the agencies developing the oral vaccine, scientists have not encountered any problems and are on track to complete by 2015."
Much of the work seems to be based on the trials in New Zealand involving the Australian brushtail possum, (Trichosurus vulpecula),- the main wildlife reservoir of Tb in New Zealand. An apparently rather successful oral vaccine trial, using "orally delivered bacille Calmette - Guerin (BCG), the Tb vaccine used in humans and derived from the attenuation of an M. bovis isolate" took place between July 2004 and November 2006 in New Zealand:
"....during the monitoring phase of the vaccine trial, significantly fewer vaccinated animals became naturally infected with Tb than control individuals ...a highly significant protective effect of the vaccine was apparent - 12 incident cases of infection in 71 control animals versus 1 in 51 vaccinated animals exposed to the same force of infection.."
. The researchers wrote that they were " confident that possums can be successfully orally vaccinated without having to capture them". Possums are considered a pest in New Zealand and all the experimental animals were subsequently trapped and killed - but the authors accept that for badgers in the UK "intensive culling is often not a politically desirable option". Their concluding paragraph shows that for other host species, such as badgers, "demonstrations that oral vaccination is similarly efficacious... and that effective delivery at the required management scale can successfully be achieved are both still required."
See full text of Oral vaccination reduces the incidence of tuberculosis in free-living brushtail possums by D. M. Tompkins et al. (Comments welcome)

August 10th 2011 ~ "...even if the ELISA test is performed on badgers which all have gross lesions, typically just over a third of these badgers will not be picked up by the ELISA test"

An email received today in answer to the query below makes some worrying suggestions about the proportion of badgers that may be infected in bTB hotspots. Informed comments emailed to warmwell gratefully received. Read email in full

August 9th 2011 ~ "Is there any way of estimating the number of badgers that have been infected but which haven't yet, or may never, develop clinical symptoms?"

A farmer from Wiltshire asks today:
"From time to time on various websites where these things are discussed, claims are made that the situation in cattle is at least as bad as the official figures show, but that the proportion of the badger population infected is much less, because only ones with clinical signs at post-mortem are counted. It is easy to suggest that the problem is mostly in the cattle population rather than badgers, because ALL cattle infections are counted but, in badgers, only the ones exhibiting clinical signs. Is there any way of estimating the number of badgers that have been infected but which haven't yet, or may never, develop clinical symptoms?"
The implication is that the number of badgers infected but not yet exhibiting clinical symptoms might be on a par with the number of cattle reactors. Informed comments welcome.
UPDATE: Dr Colin Fink comments today: "It is possible that Graham Hewinson of DEFRA may have a study on this (it would require a study catching and bleeding badgers) but is it a question that is central to the discussion?
No one disagrees that there is a large reservoir in all wildlife. It is the question of how best to reduce this without
1) increasing the amount excreted into the environment by (say) perturbation and
2) how best to reduce the reservoir in a timely, effective and humane manner." (See also http://www.warmwell.com/1746-6148-5-42.pdf )

August 8th 2011 ~"Just been reading the small print of the govt's badger culling plans...." Anthony Gibson on Twitter

And yesterday, the bovinetb.blogspot.com explains that what lies "buried in the labyrinth of the Defra website, are a handful of annexes issued by Natural England on the operating procedure which they expect from any signatories to this cull." A look at the bovinetb.blogspot post, " Natural England's guidance for a badger cull", is highly recommended, but a small extract gives the flavour:
"..... Annex G. This is a 46 page document, dealing with closed periods, operating protocols, firearms and disposal of Class 1 hazardous waste material ( badger) Watch for little inserts like C & D of collection vehicles (already classified and licensed for Class 1 hazardous waste) between farms.
And finally, in Annex H are NE's ideas to reduce impact on non-participants, which will also be the responsibility of participating licence holders. This includes not only 'liaising with non-participants', and protecting 'their' badgers from harm, but may involve posting intentions and map references on the parish noticeboard..."
One cannot help agreeing with Matthew of the Bovinetb Blogspot and with Mr Gibson's Twitter remark: "If anyone applies for a licence on these terms I'd be amazed"

August 8th 2011 ~ New Forest West MP, Desmond Swayne, backs badger cull

From www.thisishampshire.net ".... Mr Swayne cited the huge number of cattle that had to be slaughtered every year because of bovine tuberculosis and added:
"The unchecked spread of this disease is the real animal cruelty."
The MP acknowledged that many people were calling for badgers to be vaccinated rather than shot. He added: "This is an excellent idea but we do not yet possess a vaccine that is practical and effective, which is why we are spending »»£20m trying to develop one. In the meantime, it would be irresponsible to just stand by and hope."

August 8th 2011 ~ "Your farmer correspondent is absolutely right. Most cattle that are skin test positive have met the organism but remain healthy"

Again, we are grateful to Dr Colin Fink for the following expert advice. He reminds us that although healthy animals with a good immune system meeting Mycobacterium bovis may throw it off and remain healthy ".. later on in life or under stress, for example perturbation of badger social groups by culling animals may have a recrudecence of this infection and become clinically infected and excretors of the organisms." Extract:
"Your farmer correspondent is absolutely right. Most cattle that are skin test positive have met the organism but remain healthy. But they are culled as a precaution. The problem with culling badgers is that the remainder will be stressed and perversely we may initially cause greater spillage and production of the organism into the local environment from these stressed animals.
In culling cattle who are skin reactors we are applying different standards for infection risk, to the cattle, for reasons of risk to human health.
At present there is no ideal solution. I am of the opinion that feeding and including trace elements to the badgers (and other herbivore/omnivore wild life reservoirs) along with hormones to limit reproduction, may be a useful experiment to undertake. I have previously suggested mixed antibiotics in the feed. Maybe this is a way forward and worth a serious trial?"
(read in full)

August 7th 2011 ~ "Caroline Spelman and Jim Paice still have a lot of questions to answer before I will be interested in taking the unknown level of risk of funding"

An article in the Farmers Weekly today is by Stephen Carr -" I doubt if there is a farmer in England who has been more adversely affected by bovine TB than myself over the past 20 years."
His article asks serious questions both about funding (".. is the signing of the Section 7 NERC by a farmer equivalent to signing an open cheque to DEFRA?") and about the scale of what is proposed. Extract:
"..by limiting the cull to a maximum of 40 zones over the next four years, DEFRA will ensure that many zones are likely to be surrounded by areas containing infected badgers where nothing in the way of culling is being done. Unless each cull zone has boundaries that consist of geographic features impregnable to badgers they are likely to be repopulated from non-culled areas.
Two 'pilot' culling zones are now proposed for next year, with 38 more to follow, provided there is no successful legal challenge from badger preservationists. I doubt if there is a farmer in England who has been more adversely affected by bovine TB than myself over the past 20 years. But, with eight weeks of stakeholder consultation remaining, Caroline Spelman and Jim Paice still have a lot of questions to answer before I will be interested in taking the unknown level of risk of funding their badger cull as it is currently proposed."
Read in full

August 6th 2011 ~ Like is not being compared to like - and farmers don't like it

A Wiltshire farmer writes: "There are frequent references to the percentages of badgers that have been identified as TB infected. As I understand it these are ones in which clinical symptoms can be isolated at post mortem. But with cattle the number of TB infected ones recorded are those that have reacted to the skin test, and we know that the majority of those will have no clinical symptoms. Therefore it would seem reasonable to assume that were it possible to test badgers in the same way that cattle are tested, then the number that would react to the skin test would be increased by a similar proportion to that of skin test reactors to those showing clinical symptoms in cattle.
What is the significance of the figures if we are not comparing like with like?" Informed comments welcome

August 6th 2011 ~ "The website offers a 24/7 free advice and support service.." A flyer from Dianne Summers for all camelid owners

She writes:

August 6th 2011 ~ "...according to a source close to the agencies developing the oral vaccine, scientists have not encountered any problems and are on track to complete by 2015"

An article in the Guardian today is likely to cause weary annoyance to those despairing farmers who just want to get on with the removal of infected badgers as quickly as possible. It begins by giving the impression that injecting trapped badgers with vaccine is a humane alternative to shooting - however, those who continue with the article read:
"....Virologists have cast doubt on the 73.8% success rate attributed to the injectable BCG vaccine. There is also no scientific proof yet that the injectable vaccine in badgers reduces the level of transmission back to cattle."
This is the point we reluctantly make below since the efficacy of the injectable BCG vaccine could only be determined by vaccine field-testing on a large scale over a long period of time. As the note in the Commons Library by Dr Elena Ares points out: "Several thousand badgers would need to be removed to allow the determination of the presence and severity of TB at detailed post-mortem." The article does however suggest that an oral vaccine, which would be left in bait without the need for badgers to be trapped, may be closer than recent gloomy predictions suggest. Defra is investing £20m in vaccine development. It would be cheering to be able to have faith in the "source close to the agencies" who are apparently claiming that research and development is still on track.
As for cattle, the future of vaccine still depends on the EU trade rules. "Britain will need to convince its trading partners that its vaccinated cattle are safe and can be exported. This will require a change in EU law." Nigel Gibbens is quoted as saying he hopes this won't be "decades away".

August 4th 2011 ~Trace elements: "if one infected individual has a good immune response, they will excrete fewer organisms and so the cycle of transmission is steadily reduced and there are fewer organisms ( for example in TB in cattle) excreted into the local environment."

An email from a farmer in the West Country asked yesterday :
".. The main measure of TB infection is the skin test which relies on the animal that has met the infection exhibiting some resistance to the disease. It would therefore seem logical to me that the only benefit increased resistance to TB can confer on an animal that has met the infection, is the greater certainty that it will show a reaction to the test. How does that help, or am I missing the point?"
It is a good point well worth making again that strong cattle who are able to throw off the disease are still likely to be killed if the skin test shows that they have met infection. The point of improving trace elements in the soil, however, is suggested by an email received today from a microbiologist:
"... if you have mammals (or all sorts ) that are nutritionally complete, they will have more chance of avoiding infection if the cycle of excretion and numbers of organisms available. is reduced. Conversely, animals/ humans that have discrete nutritional deficiency ( such as Vitamin D, Selenium, copper, magnesium etc ) may look OK but be failing to deal with infection as well as they could.
So we are not talking about complete protection of any one individual, but lowering the whole burden of organisms available in the environment to cause infection and onward transmission....."
See both emails in full

August 4th 2011 ~ " I asked Danny if there were cases of farms using the trace elements and still going down with Tb, and he said there were."

Sally at bovinetb.co.uk, in kind reply to the query below about what, if any, research trails had taken place to test the claims of Danny Goodwin Jones, drew our attention to a posting on her site in April this year in which she reports on a conversation she herself had with Colonel Goodwin Jones:
"..Danny has evidence that treatments with trace elements, particularly with selenium and iodine, can produce outstanding results. He even maintains that restoring trace elements to an impoverished pasture cuts fertiliser and vets' bills. I have spoken to several farmers who agree there has been improvement since they started using trace elements to improve the health of their stock and land. many of these have had previous problems with bTB in their herds and are now clear. However, I asked Danny if there were cases of farms using the trace elements and still going down with Tb and he said there were.
Danny has put a great deal of effort in over the years, sadly to no avail, trying to get both Defra and WAG to undertake research and trials into the use of trace elements. Under pressure from pharmaceutical interests and the veterinary industry, the role of trace elements is dismissed."
Read post at www.bovinetb.co.uk in full.

August 3rd 2011 ~ "There is an association between bTB and high levels of iron in the soil."

This is the conclusion of a paper by G V O'Donovan, and H J Milburn in a journal of respiratory medicine "Thorax" published last year. Using information from the British Geological Survey and geological mapping, rock and soil types and their mineral contents were compared with density of cases of BTB.
"... Further work is needed to determine levels of iron in affected cattle and its effect on immune responses. ...Micronutrients could be one of these factors. Deficiencies, but also excesses, may cause secondary immunodeficiency and infection related morbidity in man. Different soil types contain different quantities of these trace elements and this will be reflected in pasture, hay and silage."
Read abstract in full

August 3rd 2011 ~" I have no doubt that bTB can be greatly reduced if Wales were to raise the health status of its cattle - and badgers"

Colonel Danny Goodwin Jones has always maintained that restoring trace elements to an impoverished pasture cuts fertiliser and vets' bills, reduces problems with lambing - and even produces more dairy heifer calves than bulls. Urging the Welsh Assembly to look into the use of micro-nutrients or trace elements in tackling the disease in badgers as well as cattle, he said:
"I have no doubt that bTB can be greatly reduced if Wales were to raise the health status of its cattle - and badgers - by improving micro nutrient levels in our land. It would cost only £5m to treat all the pasture land in Wales and the effect on livestock and wildlife, and on up the food chain to human health, would be enormous and save a great deal more than that amount of money. My company isn't big enough to do that, but the remedy is clear, and at the very least some form of intensive localised trial should be implemented in a heavily infested bTB area as soon as possible. Early results should be forthcoming very quickly, probably in a year or so."
That was April 2008. Could any reader let us know if such a trial ever took place? (more on Col. Goodwin-Jones)

August 3rd 2011 ~ It was SEVEN years ago that the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons urged, "as the epidemic continues to accelerate Ministers may not be able to afford the luxury of further research before taking action."

From the RCVS memorandum to the 2004 EFRA report:
"... Sometimes, however, it is necessary to act on the basis of imperfect information. The advice already available to the Government, most recently from Professor Godfray's report, is that the transmission of bovine TB from the wildlife reservoir must be dealt with. It would be good if transmission could be controlled through husbandry measures, and Professor Godfray has suggested a publicly-funded experiment in badger-proof farming. A good idea, but such an experiment will inevitably take time and husbandry may prove not to be an answer. The same comments apply to vaccination to control the disease in badgers. In the meanwhile there is clear historical evidence that the systematic removal of all badgers in an area around an outbreak can work. The evidence may not come up to the best scientific standards, but as the epidemic continues to accelerate Ministers may not be able to afford the luxury of further research before taking action. The publication of the results of the Irish experiments should in any case cast fresh light on the effectiveness of culling which is designed to remove all badgers from an area."
(It cannot really be wondered at that those farmers who have followed biosecurity advice to the letter, who care for their animals in the best way possible, and are still losing prized animals to disease spread by badgers known to be infected, are in the depths of despair.)

August 3rd 2011 ~ "Under pressure from pharmaceutical interests, the role of trace elements is dismissed. This is very damaging, because the scientific basis for their activation of immune resistance is well established."

Another aspect of the issue remains trace element deficiences. From the EFRA report on Bovine TB 30 June 2004 Memorandum submitted by Dr Helen Fullerton
1. Trace Element Deficiencies
1.1 I propose that susceptibility to infection, and not exposure to it, is the critical factor that makes cattle, and also badgers, go down with TB.
If the animals can be made resistant to infection, they will overcome the challenge of the M.bovis bacilli. Resistance is primarily undermined by trace element deficiencies and its loss is precipitated by stress: uncomfortable cubicles, lack of bedding, standing in slurried yards, bullying at the feeders, transport, markets etc.
1.2 The animal immune system depends on optimum blood levels of five trace elements, zinc, selenium, cobalt, copper and iodine. InUK cattle these are likely to be deficient due to their relentless extraction from the soil by intensive cropping,with total disregard for the need to put themback. In addition, the "hot spots" in SW England where TB has resisted eradication, and the areas to which it is spreading due to cattle mobility, are located on rock types intrinsically low in trace elements: limestone/chalk, red sandstone and granite.
1.3 There is abundant evidence that trace elements confer health protection on farm animals. Increasing their intake eliminates respiratory diseases,mastitis, foot infections, infertility and failure of calves to thrive. This has been the experience of Danny Goodwin-Jones, Trace Element Services, whose protocol for soil micro-nutrient restoration has rescued farmers up and down UK from problems that vets could not solve. There is also anecdotal evidence that trace element treated farms are free of TB, while their neighbours are going down with it.
Read report in full (Danny Goodwin-Jones) found scientific papers from the US which appear to show that selenium and iodine in the diet improves immunity to TB infection.)

August 1st 2011 ~ "a worrying number of other animals including pigs, sheep and domestic cats becoming infected. "

The Farmers Guardian today quotes part of a letter written by Shadow Welsh Assembly Minister for Rural Affairs, Antoinette Sandbach, to the man responsible for overseeing the eradication of bovine TB in Wales, Welsh Government's Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, John Griffiths:
"...It is not just a problem for cattle and badgers, increasingly it is spilling over into other species. Even without a rigorous surveillance programme, Defra figures show a worrying number of other animals including pigs, sheep and domestic cats becoming infected. I do not doubt the Minister's sincerity in wanting to have a science-led approach, but many in the farming industry will see it as just another delaying tactic ..."
While even DEFRA's figures are worrying, the true figure of infection in other species is considered this month by a blogger whose research work is second to none, who has pointed out the "huge gaps between Defra's headline 'culture sample' table, and the reality of deaths on the ground", has harrowing first hand knowledge of losing prized animals, has seen what infected badgers and alpacas suffer, and fears that their ability to infect other mammals, including cats and dogs - and now owners - urgently needs greater understanding and action. bovinetb.blogspot.com.

August 1st 2011 ~ Dick Roper and his selenium feed solution is back in the news

The Express published a story yesterday that closely echoes the post here from April 2006 - so we republish it here:
April 2 - 9 2006 ~ Today Programme on Farmer Dick Roper's organic real food solution in the middle of the Gloucestershire TB hotspot
Not one of his 600 pedigree cattle has tested positive in more than six years. When he converted to organic in 1999 he noticed that TB was much more of a probllem in his conventionally reared cattle. The organic cattle were getting clover. The conventional cattle were getting a maize-based silage - extremely low in selenium. Badgers also love maize. He wondered if by providing maize, immune levels had dropped not only in the cattle but also in the local badgers His findings have also been supported by an animal nutritionist (Danny Goodwin-Jones) who has found scientific papers from the US which shows that selenium and iodine in the diet improves immunity to TB infection.
Dick Roper now feeds the badgers on his farm twice yearly with feed of molasses and minerals placed in a 20 kg bucket with its top cut off by the badger setts. The Today Programme clip ends with a quotation from the author of "We want real Food" and cultural editor of the Archers, Graham Harvey
"We need to look at both why badgers and cattle are getting sick. And if it is a nutritional thing then the remedy for cattle is exactly the same as the remedy for badgers. If we get the nutrition right, they won't succumb to this disease."
The report on Today Programme (by Tom Fielden) pointed out that very little research on the relationships between mineral deficiency and immune system and tuberculosis has been done but "if he's right, he may have stumbled on the answer that doesn't involve the slaughter of thousands of Britain's badgers."
That was April 2006. It would be interesting to know if anyone followed up the research suggested by Tom Fielden

July 30th 2011 ~ Grant available to help meet the costs of vaccination if farmers want to try this. DEFRA will publish details "shortly"

From DEFRA's Eradication Programme
" For some farmers and landowners, using vaccination may be the preferred option for tackling bovine TB in badgers and licences to trap and vaccinate badgers will continue to be available. Vaccination may also have a role in helping to reduce the risks from perturbation caused by culling, when no other buffers are available. To support its use in these circumstances, we propose to make available up to £250,000 a year in grant funding to help meet the costs of vaccination. Further details about how to apply for funding will be published shortly."

July 30th 2011 ~ Nigel Gibbens adds a note to 38 degrees website

This is a copy of his note in full.
"As Defra's Chief Veterinary Officer, I'd like to correct some of the serious inaccuracies I've seen here.
The Randomised Badger Culling Trial shows conclusively that badgers contribute significantly to bovine TB in cattle. A badger cull could reduce the incidence of bovine TB in a 150km2 local area by an estimated 16%, equating to 47 cattle herd breakdowns prevented. The estimated benefit was agreed by a group of eminent scientists http://archive.defra.gov.uk/fo...
Culling would only be part of the solution. Cattle measures - including routine testing and surveillance, pre-movement testing, movement restrictions and removal and slaughter of infected cattle - will remain the foundation of our TB Eradication Programme.
Defra believes vaccines should be part of the solution too - but so far we don't have a workable one. There's a licensed injectable vaccine for badgers, but there are practical problems because of the need to catch and inject the badgers with it and the benefits would take a long time to be seen - by which time the growing bovine TB problem would be much worse.
The best option would be a usable oral badger vaccine, which we're working hard to develop, but a useable vaccine is much further away than we thought and although this remains a research priority, it may never be ready for widescale use."
348 degrees website. Badger cull page

July 30th 2011 ~ "...Under existing arrangements, farmers and landowners, individually or collectively, can apply for a licence to trap and vaccinate badgers.."

More on vaccination from DEFRA's Eradication Programme
102. Vaccination also has a role to play in tackling transmission of disease from badgers to cattle, and since 1999, Defra has invested over £11 million on research into badger vaccines. As a result an injectable BCG badger vaccine is now available for use on prescription, subject to a licence from Natural England. In common with other prescription-only medicines, BadgerBCG must be prescribed for use by a veterinary surgeon. Badger vaccination can be performed by a vet, or by a non-veterinary "lay vaccinator" provided they have completed an approved training course. Under existing arrangements, farmers and landowners, individually or collectively, can apply for a licence to trap and vaccinate badgers.
103. Laboratory and field studies have demonstrated that vaccination of badgers by injection with BCG significantly reduces the progression, severity and excretion of TB infection. However, while we would expect vaccination of badger populations to result in reduced transmission of TB to cattle, we currently have no direct experimental evidence on this, other than from computer modelling. Therefore the precise contribution badger vaccination could make to reducing disease in cattle is unknown. Determining this in a scientifically robust way would require large-scale field trials and be very costly."
.........
Badger vaccine deployment project
104. The vaccine is being used in a Defra-funded Badger Vaccine Deployment Project in Gloucestershire. During the first trapping year more than 500 badgers were vaccinated in the 100km2 project area. The project involves training operatives to use the vaccine in the field and seeks to increase confidence in the use of injectable badger vaccines, while looking at the practicalities of the vaccination process. The first commercial training course in badger vaccination was run in October 2010 and more courses are taking place this year.
It is very unfortunate that an oral vaccine - which as DEFRA says, is "technically more difficult to formulate" looks still so far away.

July 29th 2011 ~ "What is this scientific approach that people are being asked to support? Where is it explained?" NFU asks 38 degrees

Some of the NFU responses to today's news of a public petition (see below) are on the 38 degrees website. Among the points made, the NFU says

."No one has ever suggested that a badger cull alone would solve the problem of TB in cattle. It needs a comprehensive policy. Bovine TB has never been tackled effectively without addressing a wildlife host, where it exists."

July 29th 2011 ~ Petition site 38 Degrees launches a public petition against badger culls

This is accompanied by a large picture of a healthy badger. They say 87% of those contacting the site voted for such a petition. (It is unfortunate that on the first day anyone voting "No" was greeted with the message "Thank You. You voted Yes." See below ) There are extracts on the 38 degrees website of comments sent in by those opposed to any badger cull of which perhaps the most intelligent is "While I would reluctantly support the badger cull if I were convinced of its effectiveness, I can't help but feel that the government has chosen the least expensive option rather than the best one."
If there were money and time enough, if the science had not been irretrievably muddied, and had the problem of bTB been grasped firmly by the Ministry a long time ago, the "best solution" might well have been found. The apparent public outrage may now lead to another political impasse as well as genuine fear of violent measures carried out by a minority among those who are so vociferously against violence to badgers. DEFRA appears to have no intention of pursuing vaccination in the field (although a licensed injectable vaccine is available for farmers in hotspots) and is channeling any money there is towards the development of an oral vaccine - whose year of expected use is always receding.

July 29th 2011 ~ And in the meantime?

"Dozens of lovely cattle with bloodlines going back generations have been destroyed and I have shed many tears of rage and frustration..." wrote a farmer back in May 2009 when the accelerating problem had already been apparent for years
"...Now other bolt-ons have appeared on Defra's 'don't do' list which is supposed to keep herds free of TB. We don't share boundaries, equipment, access or grazing, but we share badgers. Currently three nearby farms have breakdowns and we are again snarled up in movement restrictions after two reactors in January....almost 40 tests in 8 years - which have achieved just what exactly?..."
And this farmer, like so many others, is about to face tests yet again. In May 2009 the then Shadow Secretary of State was quoted by the Farmers Guardian
"The Conservatives understand the desperate need to take action now and that is why we support the views of many farmers that a targeted cull of badgers must be a part of the action necessary to tackle Bovine TB
This is an animal welfare issue. Everybody loses from the Government running away from this problem - cattle are being slaughtered, badgers are suffering, farmers' livelihoods are being damaged, and taxpayers are footing the bill.
We cannot go on slaughtering tens of thousands of cattle while ignoring the reservoir of infection in wildlife.
Sick badgers are responsible for a significant number of herd breakdowns and unless there is a policy to remove them we stand little chance of eradicating this terrible disease..."
That was over three years ago. Petition writers may perhaps feel grateful that they do not have to experience at first hand the "tears of rage and frustration" decent farmers feel at their powerlessness while successive governments have been kicking the issue down the road for many, many years.

July 27th 2011 ~ "Some members of that Committee went into the inquiry opposed to a cull, but came round to that view having seen the evidence."

Mr Rogerson, a member of the cross-party EFRA Select Committee, told the House of Commons ( Hansard July 19th):
"Some members of that Committee went into the inquiry opposed to a cull, but came round to that view having seen the evidence. Does she agree that it would be great if those who have understandable doubts about a cull could come to rural areas, such as Cornwall, and see the devastation on the ground so that they could understand that we need to do something about this issue?
Mrs Spelman: My hon. Friend makes a very good point....nothing compares to visiting a farm in one of the worst affected areas and learning at first hand about the devastation and heartache that repeatedly having to send cattle to slaughter brings....Like anyone who loves nature, I love the badgers too, but we must be clear about the humaneness and efficacy of what we are discussing. As regards new science, the science published since 2007 by Christl Donnelly and peer reviewed is an important factor in the decision. On the compensation, if farmers do not get their cattle regularly tested in a timely fashion, as they are required to do, they will have their compensation reduced. This is a balanced package and people must take responsibility. The farming industry has shown its willingness to do that and I commend this balanced package to the House.."
Read debate in full

July 27th 2011 ~ "Why do so many people care about badgers being culled but don't care a jot about the number of cattle being culled?"

This quotation, from Johann Tasker's FWI article today, is from a respondent to the 38 degrees website.
"....Activists who claim to have scuppered Britain's first super-dairy will decide today whether to campaign against the government's badger cull plans.
The 38 Degrees campaign group is due to announce its decision following an online discussion on Wednesday (27 July)...."
The full article is here.

July 24th 2011 ~ More bTB in Cumbria. It appears that two cows sold from the Penrith dairy herd in the months before the outbreak was discovered at Plumpton Head Farm, have reacted to skin tests.

All cattle on the two farms where the reactors were found will now be tested. It will be remembered that the outbreak of TB found in April (see below) was found in a "closed" herd. 100 out of the 500 cows had to be killed. No movements of cattle on or off the farm were reported - and, as everywhere else now, all Cumbrian farmers are very cautious about where new stock comes from. It would be interesting to see if the spoligotype was that found in farmed deer near Ulverston - spoligotype 35. (See recent posts on Cumbria) The herd had been tested "clear" 18 months previously, according to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency but post-mortem examinations carried out then on the slaughtered cattle caused vets concern over the length of time the disease could have been present on the farm. The new positive tests show that this worry was justified.
Robert Craig, NFU Cumbria county chairman, is quoted by The Cumberland News : "Cumbria has been relatively free from bovine TB but the recent outbreak in the Penrith area shows how it is as much an issue for Cumbria as it is for Devon and Cornwall. Tackling the disease where it has become established is vitally important to make sure it does not become established in this county."

July 22nd 2011 ~ Taken to task again... "We have to be realistic as well as humane"

The Bovine TB badger cull question is an issue in which a neutral stance or attempt to weigh up both sides of the argument tends to bring frustrated fire from all sides.
A cogent argument today from those who favour a targeted badger cull is that since there is NO CURE for the infected badgers and their only future is a downward spiral and nasty death, it is both reasonable and humane to wipe out an infected sett. We can't nurse the sick ones back to health. And as the infected badgers wander onto farmland with grazing cows, the reality is that they spread infection far, far more readily than do cows. Alpacas too - unfortunately - share with badgers such a high level of infectiousness that the situation with alpacas is now very grim.
As for the public outrage about badger culling, we were alarmed to be told that the 38 degrees campaign website that asked for YES/NO responses to the loaded question "Should we work together to protect badgers?" greeted a NO vote with the message: "Thank You. You voted Yes"
(I see from Twitter, that this has happened to several people who wished to vote "No")
This is - at best - extraordinarily unprofessional. We understand that the site has "now fixed that mistake so shouldn't happen again".
Tuberculosis is a killer. In the sad absence of an effective vaccine that can be widely administered, simply allowing the bacteria to spread is now threatening increasing numbers in other species, more of our wildlife, and now our cats and dogs too. As for the alpaca owners, two members of the Alpaca TB Support Group have now lost their entire herd and several others have lost the majority of their herd. The DEFRA table shows just 43 alpacas lost in 2010 and this is "very distressing", says Dianne, "when just one of my group lost that number on his own". ( Please do read the email from Dianne Summers the tireless fighter for camelids at www.alpacatb.org.)

July 21 2011 ~ Can we leave the healthy setts alone?

An email received today from the filmmaker Chris Chapman offers an interesting, knowledgeable and humane look at the TB issue
" I think it true that most farmers lack the necessary skills to identify sick setts. Byan Hill has spent a lifetime studying them, and it was by going round with Bryan that the farmer who lost his South Devon's, was shocked to find the extent of the disease on his farm. That's not to say that these skills can't be learnt - I tried to show that in the film

July 20th 2011 ~ DEFRA's ".. comprehensive and balanced package of measures to tackle TB in cattle, badgers and other animals, including the Government's view that it is strongly minded to allow a science-led cull of badgers in the worst affected areas".

DEFRA's Bovine TB Eradication Programme for England dated July 2011 - a pdf file of 67 pages - is now online. Extract: "...we have made some changes to the proposed policy in an effort to address the concerns that have been raised, and we want to give key stakeholders an opportunity to comment ... If the decision is to proceed, controlled shooting as a method of badger control would then be piloted in the first year and if this is found to be humane and effective by an independent scientific panel of experts, only then would this policy be rolled out more widely.
We are continuing to invest heavily in research, in particular to develop a cattle vaccine and an oral badger vaccine. However, these are still many years away ...."

July 19th 2011 ~ NFU senior farm policy adviser, John Royle: "Anybody that participates in controlled shooting and cage trapping will have had specialist training on the humane despatch of badgers from experts."

Mr Royle is taking part in the Farmers Guardian live forum on today's announcement from Caroline Spelman. He added, " They will also have proved that they are a proficient marksman to ensure that they are familiar with and follow best practice guidance for carrying out a cull."

July 19th 2011 ~ NFU President Peter Kendall : "I join with farmers up and down the country today in breathing an enormous sigh of relief.. "

"...that the Government has shown leadership in tackling this terrible disease. This has never been about eradicating badgers; this is about eradicating disease. Today is a massive step forward and I thank Defra and the Secretary of State for the painstaking work that has gone into making what has been, I'm sure, a very tough decision in the face of not inconsiderable opposition."

July 19th 2011 ~ Caroline Spelman "strongly minded" to permit a badger cull in two pilot areas of England to take place next summer before being rolled out to other TB hotspot areas

BVA president Harvey Locke has expressed relief that the announcement has not been delayed until after Parliament's summer recess and says that the BVA and BCVA have long argued for a targeted, humane badger cull to be used alongside stricter cattle controls.
"We believe that failure to tackle wildlife sources of TB infection has prolonged the presence and enhanced the spread of infection in all affected species populations." (BVA News Release)
Mrs Spelman would not confirm the location of the first two pilots. She says she will be given potential cull areas by the farming industry itself. Of course, no farmer can be forced to take part - but unless there is buy-in from the farmers and landowners to allow at least 70% access to land in an designated culling area, a licence won't be granted. Defra says that they must "consult further" on licence conditions and to assess the effectiveness and humaneness of controlled shooting to cull badgers. It would seem that there will be no legal badger culling this year. The Farmers Guardian report on today's announcement.

July 18th 2011 ~ VLA admits that an effective oral badger vaccine "may never be p ly developed" - (but why not try contraceptive bait?)

The Farmers Weekly reports today on the subect of oral vaccine:
"....The vaccine has to last long enough to take effect once it has been swallowed, but as badgers' stomachs are so acidic and can break down food quickly an effective product has yet to be found.... Scientists say finding bait that would only be eaten by badgers and not by cattle - whose TB tests could be affected by the vaccine - was another problem"
This assumes, surely rather oddly, that bait would be placed within the confines of where cows actually graze.
The study by F. Cagnacci and G Massei carried out in 2003 and published here (pdf) on the feasibility of contraceptive-laden bait to keep numbers down :
"...Badgers removed 97.8% of baits. There was no evidence of bait uptake by non-target species. Some 85% of the baits were immediately eaten at the baiting station; caching was not observed although it cannot be excluded. In 1/3 of visits, badgers consumed two or more baits...." (More)
Shooting badgers by marksmen might seem the most humane option for culling - but in fact, because badger skulls are very strong and their bodies thickly protected with a layer of fat, a clean kill will not easily be achieved, especially by non-marksmen farmers with shotguns.

July 17th 2011 ~ The claim of a "73.8% reduction positive blood tests in badgers" examined again

A closer reading of the note in the Commons Library by Dr Elena Ares, entitled Badgers Culling (sic) :
".. In common with other species, BCG did not appear to prevent infection of badgers subjected to experimental challenge, but did significantly reduce the overall disease burden. BCG vaccination of badgers could comprise an important component of a comprehensive programme of measures to control bovine TB in cattle. The results of the laboratory and small-scale field studies do not lend themselves to giving a definitive figure for BCG vaccine efficacy. This could only be determined by vaccine field-testing on a large scale over a long period of time and several thousand badgers would need to be removed to allow the determination of the presence and severity of TB at detailed post-mortem. An oral badger vaccine, which may be a more practical option in terms of field deployment, is still at the research stage and will not be available until 2015 at the earliest."
Unfortunately, this date continues to recede. As the Telegraph reported on July 8th
Evidence has now emerged... showing an oral vaccine to stop badgers getting bovine TB will not be ready until 2020. Even then, it will take years for the vaccine to wipe out bovine TB in the badger population and therefore stop the spread to cattle. Previously, it was thought an oral vaccine could be developed by 2015, prompting calls for a cull to be delayed."
The disease is very much on the march. Bovine TB has been identified in pigs in Wales and in Cornwall recently, emphasising the fact that pigs are also susceptible to the disease. So (very much so) are alpaca and llamas. There have also been recent cases of bTB in goats, ferrets, cats, dogs and wild boar. (See ProMed)

July 17th 2011~ "It's a no-win situation all way round." Sir David Attenborough

The Guardian quotes Sir David who said there were "very serious consequences" of allowing free shooting of badgers in the countryside at night "... but expressed sympathy for farmers who saw a 7.5% rise in new incidents of TB in cattle last year. Most farmers are in favour of a badger cull after controls over cattle movement, the slaughter of infected cattle and better biosecurity on farms have failed to stem the spread of the disease, which has cost the government more than £500m in compensation over the past 10 years."
"It's a no-win situation all way round. It sounds very pompous to say I have sympathy with farmers but one clearly does. The poor farmer has to put down animals that he cares for daily. Who am I, a townie, to tell people what to do or even to comment on what they do? All I'm saying is the latest research seems to suggest that [a cull] is likely to make things worse rather than better. Something has to be done. What has to be done is get a proper vaccine to enable us to inoculate badger populations."
Absolutely - but the wait is excruciating and in the meantime, not only are badgers dying without treatment and unable to find food - but as Sir David says, "The poor farmer has to put down animals that he cares for daily."

July 17th 2011~ "Something has to be done....but vaccination is the only long-term solution to the problem," says Sir David Attenborough.

And while most people would profoundly agree, it is still the case that at present there is no effective vaccine and farmers in the hotspots are increasingly desperate. It is more than unfortunate that the Guardian reporting of Sir David's statement on Thursday repeated the claim, which DEFRA and Jim Paice denied in June this year (see Farmers Guardian) that " A badger vaccine was licenced last year and field trials found the BCG vaccine reduced the incidence of bovine TB in badgers by 73.8%" (Warmwell.com itself was taken to task for repeating without checking this figure). Jim Paice made it very clear that it was not correct :
"... He admitted that a research paper published by Defra suggesting a 75 per cent reduction in TB levels in badgers that had been vaccinated had been 'seriously misreported and misunderstood' and had 'not helped' the debate..."

July 17th 2011~ bTB public responses from 2006

With thanks to @badgerfriendly on Twitter (a useful source of non confrontational links and information) the pdf file "Public Consultation on Controlling the Spread of Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle in High Incidence Areas in England: Badger Culling - Summary of Responses"

July 15th 2011~ Government ministers only have one day left to announce their decision on cull

One wonders if the decision - which was to be given before the Summer recess on Tuesday (19 July) - is being quietly shelved.
As the Farmers Weekly says today:
"Failure to make an oral statement to MPs will leave the government open to accusations that ministers are afraid of being held to account."
Farmers Weekly has set up a dedicated channel for all stories connected to proposals for a badger cull.

July 14th 2011 ~ Feasibility of contraceptive bait

A study by F. Cagnacci and G Massei carried out in 2003 and published here (pdf) in 2008 would seem to be worth urgent consideration. It highlighted how the efficiency of leaving bait for badgers could be affected by social behaviour. We read that :
"...Badgers removed 97.8% of baits. There was no evidence of bait uptake by non-target species. Some 85% of the baits were immediately eaten at the baiting station; caching was not observed although it cannot be excluded. In 1/3 of visits, badgers consumed two or more baits...." (More)
If numbers can be controlled with contraceptives, then the free shooting of badgers - even by marksmen who can ensure a clean kill - might be seen as unwise.
One wonders why a study undertaken eight years ago, part funded by DEFRA itself, should apparently have led nowhere. The situation now is so desperate that the plight of farmers and the bovine victims of an inflexible policy must surely move anyone of sensitivity who is prepared to look at the situation from all angles. A study thirteen years ago in 1997 Fertility control as a means of controlling bovine tuberculosis in badger (Meles meles) populations in south-west England: predictions from a spatial stochastic simulation model. by White PC, Lewis AJ, and Harris S. concluded that "whilst fertility control would not be a successful strategy for the control of bovine tuberculosis in badgers if used alone, it could be effective if used with culling as part of an integrated strategy." Nothing was done. The cost was considered a drawback. But the cost of doing nothing - in financial, political, and emotional terms - has been staggering.

July 13th 2011 ~ Ireland's 2010 Eradication Programme for Bovine Tuberculosis

The Presentation of the 5th /6th July 2011 - Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCOFCAH) PDF file is here. Extract:

Number of reactors down from 23,805 in 2009 to 20,211 i.e. (15% reduction)
9% reduction in Herd Incidence
9% reduction in APT
Lower incidence of disease is continuing into 2011

July 8th 2011 ~ " In the absence of an oral vaccine to prevent badgers spreading TB, there does seem to be a case for controlled culling in the worst-affected areas"

Unfortunately, while rightly saying that the issue is an "emotive" one on both sides, the leading article in the Independent today, ahead of the expected announcement from Caroline Spelman, fails to add that there is as yet no vaccine at all to prevent badgers spreading TB (see expert email here from virologist, wildlife advocate and organic farmer, Dr Watkins). It also seems to feel that "the scientific advice" is both consistent and unequivocal. If only it were. This afternoon, Caroline Spelman told the House of Commons that she would "keep them informed" on the badger cull decision.

July 6th 2011 ~ .. lack of understanding never stopped an infectious disease from spreading..."

"the false expectations about the BCG vaccine come from wishful thinking," explains the farmer, virologist and wildlife conservationist, Dr Ruth Watkins, in an email received today. It explains why vaccines for Bluetongue, FMD, rinderpest etc. work so well to prevent infection, rendering the invading virus defunct - and why, alas, there is no equivalent for bTB
" ...The T-cell response to mycobacteria leads to the release of this molecule, gamma interferon. However a large amount of mycobacterial antigen can switch off the T-cell response eventually (the infection over time can be thought of as the accumulation of antigen) so antibody is made rather than gamma interferon. This is useless...antibody is a marker of advanced uncontrolled infection. .."
The email repays a close reading in full for those who want to understand why, while bTB vaccines may be partially useful, they are not able to prevent lung infection. "If disease in the lungs progresses to cavities in the lungs so that shedding occurs from the lungs on the breath, the infection of others by inhalation is not prevented, whether they are vaccinated or not."

July 6th 2011 ~ vaccines under development: "... a more effective immune response to active disease"

Even though BCG vaccine has never eliminated TB, Dr Watkin's email does hold out hope for the near future. Recent developments in bTB vaccines being trialled in mice suggest progress:
" The excitement of the new TB vaccine in development with proteins expressed in the new vaccine that are not in BCG vaccine is that it could evoke a more effective immune response to active disease; it could prevent the disease of the lungs for instance that is the source of infectious shedding. So far this is only in laboratory mice. This new vaccine might really make a difference to the incidence of TB where diagnosis and treatment is not on offer- impoverished human communities and to animals such as badgers, cattle and so on. "
Read email

July 5th 2011 ~ Unwelcome truths about currently available badger vaccines

An enormous amount of damage has been done by allowing false hope to be raised on the subject of badger vaccines. As the posting from the bovinetb.blogspot.com in December showed, 23 non-infected animals in Suffolk were used to trial vaccine and then exposed to bacteria; 5 were given no vaccine and the others varying strengths:
".. postmortems showed all badgers to have visible lesions in several parts, including lungs, lymph nodes etc. varying in severity. and m.bovis of the spoligotype introduced experimentally (VLA 9 - 8 5 5 5 *3 3 3) was recovered from all 23 animals in the trial.." Read in full
We don't like reporting this - but it is no good pretending that bTB vaccines are tried, tested and effective, as FMD vaccines are.
Jim Paice, in an interview with the Farmers Guardian on June 14th pointed out that the research paper published by Defra suggesting a 74% reduction in TB levels in badgers that had been vaccinated had been "seriously misreported and misunderstood" and had "not helped" the debate.
The EU having set its face against vaccination of cattle has meant the development of bTB vaccines has lacked financial support - but also, as we and others have tried to make clear, the bTB bacterium itself is so much more difficult to combat than the FMD virus. Cows, badgers, alpacas and domestic animals are paying a terrible price for the fact that bTB has been a political hot potato for so many years. It is a great shame that certain groups have misled the warm-hearted public with false hope about the efficacy of the present bTB vaccines.

July 5th 2011 ~ DEFRA is expected to give the go ahead for a licensed badger cull in England within the next few days

The Farmers Guardian says this morning:
"...speculation is rife that the decision will be to sanction a licensed cull, organised and paid for by groups of farmers in TB hotspot areas. ... culling will not start until next May or June, as there would still be a number of details to be resolved. .... Culling is likely to be introduced in a phased approach, with just one or two areas sanctioned initially...." Read in full
Jim Paice, a farmer himself and well aware of the present horrible situation for farmers, told the House of Commons that the "status quo, do nothing agenda is not acceptable" when it comes to tackling bovine TB - and it seems likely that Caroline Spelman and David Cameron are on board - particularly since Bob Watson, Nigel Gibbens and others have concluded in this report that the cull would have positive impact on disease in cattle, as long as the conditions proposed in last autumn's consultation of using trapping or 'controlled shooting', over heavily infected areas of at least 150sq.km continue for a minimum of four years and boundaries are kept to in order to reduce badger perturbation. See report (pdf) "Bovine TB - Key conclusions from the meeting of scientific experts 4th April 2011.

July 4th 2011 ~ " Tuberculosis is not about badgers or cattle. And now the spillover is affecting more and more animals, including pets and companion mammals"

An email from the editor of the bovinetb.blogspot.com
"...the 'way out' as far as I can see, is to remove the public's long distance comfort blanket of someone else's 'cattle' and substitute ' MY pet' or 'MY alpaca'. Only then will tuberculosis in a wildlife reservoir, become their problem as much as it is for any cattle farmer.
.... We were hopeful that these figures for cats, dogs and companion mammals would engage the public, and break the mythical comfort blanket of TB = cattle / badgers or badgers /cattle. But in 2008, things started to stall. After many searching questions, we did this posting last year, http://bovinetb.blogspot.com/2010/09/disappeared.html which explains some of the disparity, but more has come to light since...." Read in full
DEFRA's "convoluted and insular" way of collating statistics, says the email, is is not helpful. "In fact it's damned misleading if not duplicitous. But people are getting wise to this. Slowly."

July 3rd 2011 ~ Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust begins vaccinating local badgers

According to the Stroud News and Journal: "... for the next three months the trust will be luring badgers into traps with peanuts and injecting them with the vaccine. To prevent the badgers from being vaccinated twice, they are marked...."
It would be encouraging to think that those badgers who are uninfected and young enough for the vaccine to have some effect might be protected. However, there are many questions still unresolved on the question of TB vaccines. Available vaccines, such as the BCG vaccine, work only if given before exposure to the bacterium - and not always then. As for cattle vaccines, Article 13 of EU Directive 78/52 requires member states to ensure "anti- tuberculosis vaccination" is prohibited under their eradication plans. This has undoubtedly made research and development of viable badger and cattle vaccines for use in the EU seem a waste of time, effort and money.
Bovine TB is a particularly difficult bacterium to diagnose and combat - as was explained here by Dr Ruth Watkins, whose work of conservation with the wildlife on her own farm in Wales is to be enormously admired.

July 3rd 2011 ~ "... Will the Minister update us?"

Harriett Baldwin: Wildlife in my constituency is suffering from tuberculosis, a lingering death. Cattle are being slaughtered, and farmers are lying awake at night worried that their herd might be next. Will the Minister update us on what further steps the Government could take to bring the disease under control?
The MP for West Worcestershire received this answer to her question on Friday:
Mr Paice: My hon. Friend is right to stress the need for further policies to control TB. As I said earlier, we will make announcements fairly soon - before the House rises, we hope - on our proposals regarding badgers, and about wider cattle-to-cattle measures. I assure my hon. Friend and the House that the status quo, do-nothing agenda is not acceptable. Calculations show that if we do nothing and things stay as they are, it will cost the taxpayer £1 billion over the next 10 years..."
(read in full)

July 1st 2011 ~ BVA again expresses its concern " that any further delay to the implementation of a targeted cull will simply result in further devastation to Welsh herds."

The British Veterinary Association, at the annual BVA Welsh dinner, held at City Hall in Cardiff on Tuesday ( 28th June 2011) reiterated its disappointment at the delays in implementing a badger cull to tackle bovine TB The President, Harvey Locke said:
"As veterinary scientists we are fully committed to science-based policy, but we believe that that work has already been done. We are concerned that any further delay to the implementation of a targeted cull will simply result in further devastation to Welsh herds. However, we do acknowledge your stated desire that the review be completed within a short timeframe and we appreciate your commitment to that. We are also very keen to see a strong veterinary representation on the review panel."
(Press Release)

June 30th 2011 ~ A decision has to be made by July 19th

The Farmers Weekly reminds us that Caroline Spelman,who is believed to have recommended a badger cull in TB areas, now needs to explain to Cabinet colleagues why the policy, although unpleasant, is the only immediate way forward for desperate farmers in the hotspots.
Yesterday's news of a second case of bovine TB in Cumbria (see below) underlines the ever escalating situation - one which is largely misunderstood by people who rightly hate the thought of trapping and killing badgers- but who perhaps forget the painful consequences that the disease brings to infected badgers who spread the bacteria so easily, the carnage it is causing in affected herds - and the misery of those who care about all animals in distress. Affected farmers in Wales are appalled at the Welsh Assembly Government's decision to halt a planned cull of badgers in West Wales. As the FW points out: "The heads of three regional bovine TB eradication boards in Wales have withdrawn their support in protest at the decision. John Owen, Peredur Hughes and Robert Stevenson said they felt "entirely bypassed and badly misled" by the government's decision to review the science behind the TB eradication strategy rather than implement a cull."

June 29th 2011 ~ Grim news from Cumbria

News is coming in of another case of bovine TB at Penrith, close to the first outbreak exactly two months ago where more than 90 animals were slaughtered on a "closed" herd. The outbreak there was a mystery. There had been no movements of cattle on or off the farm it seems and the herd, according to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, had been tested "clear" 18 months previously.
Today, the NFU says:
"Testing was initiated by Animal Health immediately following the original TB breakdown and found no spread of the disease to neighbouring premises. Since then, another animal on a neighbouring farm has tested positive."
Vets are trying to determine whether any links can be traced between the two affected farms but say it will be "several weeks" before a result is known.

June 27th 2011 ~ National Beef Association's Welsh members want an "anti-TB campaign, that will attack the disease on all fronts, and be aimed at all sources"

The NBA press release says that it would also like the Welsh environment minister, John Griffiths, to make sure that the review panel. appointed by chief scientist, John Harres, is seen to be "open-minded and objective". The Association's Welsh members are confident, says the release, " that the scientific panel will find in favour of controlled badger removal and that this result should be anticipated so there are no delays when the go-ahead is given". See full NBA press release

June 23rd 2011 ~ Farmers criticise badger cull delay as "completely frustrating".

The Independent today:
"Farmers have expressed their frustration at Government delays on a badger cull after the latest figures showed rising rates of TB infection in cattle. The most recent official figures, for January to March this year, showed a 6.3% increase in the number of new herds testing positive for bovine TB on the same period last year. The National Farmers' Union said that in the worst affected areas, such as Staffordshire, Shropshire and Dorset, the increase was over 30% on the previous year. The national increase was 4.4% once a rise in the number of herds tested was taken into account, the provisional figures revealed. The NFU said the figures showed that "biosecurity" measures to keep cattle and feed away from wildlife such as badgers, which are known to transmit the disease, and increased testing were not enough to tackle the problem. NFU chief farm policy adviser John Royle said the coalition Government's delay in bringing in the promised cull of badgers in areas which are hotspots for the disease was "completely frustrating"....."
Read in full

June 21st 2011 ~ The can has been kicked further down the road - yet again. "The panel will report in the autumn."

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is expressing "extreme disappointment" after the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) announced yet another "review of the scientific evidence base" In an oral statement the Welsh Environment and Sustainable Development Minister, John Griffiths, said that the Chief Scientific Adviser Professor John Harries will appoint an independent panel of experts to peer review the scientific evidence. The panel will report in the autumn. Professor Bill Reilly, Past President of the BVA, is quoted in the BVA news release
"We are extremely disappointed that this additional review has been deemed necessary by the new Government. If new evidence is presented it must be considered, but we are not aware of any.
The Welsh Assembly Government has already taken extensive action to show that the scientific basis for a badger cull as part of the bovine TB eradication plan is robust. The facts have not changed and this is yet another look at the same evidence.
The BVA has made its position clear and the Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales has made her position clear. Further delays to the roll out of the eradication programme will simply cause further devastation to Welsh cattle herds."
Read in full See also BBC report

June 15th 2011 ~ Is there going to be a badger cull in England?

Alistair Driver summed up the latest situation in this article in the Farmers Guardian yesterday. "... what is behind the delay and does it mean, as some within the industry fear, that the policy is now in doubt?" NFU TB spokesman Jan Rowe, who sits on the Defra-industry TB Eradication Group, is quoted:
"It will be May 2012. The NFU hopes we can get four of five areas ready this year to start next year."
Some of the the readers' comments are interesting.

June 13th 2011 ~ Farmers may have to pay in advance for the entire four-year licence

While the uncertainty about the government's plans to improve bTB policy won't be known until the end of July we read in the Farmers Guardian today that
".... the TB Eradication Group had been trying to persuade Defra that it is 'extremely unlikely' farmers will want to get out of culling agreements. Even if some do, others are likely to come in and take their place, he added. Mr Rowe confirmed that even if Ministers do give the go ahead, there will be no culling this year. The earliest possible date is May 2012, given that there would be a 'mini-consultation' after the announcement, the length of time Natural England will take to process licences and the prospect of a legal challenge, Mr Rowe predicted."
Meanwhile, the misery continues. Farmers, like the owners of Hallmark Boxter, are put through the grinding mill of worry and lack of trust, infected badgers in the hotspots are spreading the disease to each other and to farms. Once the slow moving bacterium takes a grim hold, the animals in the worst condition are thrown out of the sett to die starving and alone - but by that time the sett is irretrievably infected.

June 12th 2011 ~ Hallmark Boxster passes new skin test "with flying colours" - but DEFRA now demands another

Owners of the champion bull, whose story is below, were told late yesterday afternoon that he had passed a skin test performed on Tuesday. There was no swelling at all when the skin test was performed.Now, according to this report in the Yorkshire Post DEFRA is demanding another blood test since the first one "clotted".
".. because there was once an infected animal in our herd, DEFRA is insisting on the extra test - although the rest of the herd has been testing clean for ages and if Boxster had ever been infected, he would be riddled with it by now.
DEFRA has failed to give us an understandable reason why they are treating him differently or why they cannot wait 60 days. We want to establish whether they are quoting the law at us or just their own policy.
We don't want to speculate on motives. We only want an end to all this. We have allowed DEFRA to take two blood samples and they have made a mess of both, through no fault of ours.."
Read article in the Yorkshire Post

June 7th 2011 ~ ".... the strain, stress, upset and sheer unhappiness of watching their herds being destroyed, their livelihoods threatened and their farms placed under the sterilising restrictions..."

Today, Geoffrey Cox, the MP for Torridge and West Devon, spoke with eloquence and passion during the debate on Dairy Farming. His speech is here (Hansard) and his heartfelt praise for Jim Paice's "empathy and instinctive understanding" is followed by a plea. Extract:
"... Nevertheless, the Minister knows what I am about to say next; it is time to deliver.
For six years, we have told farming communities in the UK that if the Conservative party reached the corridors of Government we would take hold of the situation and tackle this dire emergency... that we would not fail to have the moral courage to bring the only solution that will deal with the problem for the areas I represent.
....knows well the corrosive, attritional, distressing and unhappy effects of bovine TB. They not only affect the infected animals - the cattle that are slaughtered and the badgers that die appalling deaths as their lungs literally liquefy as a result of being infected by TB - but the farming families and communities who daily have to endure the strain, stress, upset and sheer unhappiness of watching their herds being destroyed, their livelihoods threatened and their farms placed under the sterilising restrictions required by the bovine TB regulations.
... I have long advocated, and I long criticised the last Government for not implementing, a full package of measures on the cattle side, biosecurity and all the areas of animal husbandry that need to be improved, including vaccination when we can see it. However, we cannot have a package of measures that does not include culling where it is necessary, such as those densely infected hot-spot areas where the risk assessment concludes that it is a necessary part of any prescription or solution. We cannot exclude a cull. ....I do not propose for a moment that we apply a simplistic solution; nor do I suggest that culling alone is the only prescription that will bring success.
... bovine TB... important to the dairy farmers listening this morning in the places that I represent, waiting anxiously for what the Minister is to say...."
Read in full

June 7th 2011 ~ "there has to be a question mark in both directions.."

Mr Paice did indeed have a little to say about TB at the end of the debate. There was nothing in it to reassure Mr Cox. Hansard.:
Mr Paice... we hope to make a full announcement before the House rises in July. That will comprise a decision on the issue of badger culling as well as a wider package of measures. He picked up the point that I have been reported as implying that we might not be going ahead with a cull. As a lawyer, I am sure that he fully understands that if one has not made a decision, there has to be a question mark in both directions over what that decision might be. I say to him and hon. Members that, as I expect is blatantly obvious, that decision is not just for me, but for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and, indeed, the Cabinet to make."
Read Mr Paice's speech.

June 2011 ~ "Information from the United Kingdom on the results of implementation of the bovine tuberculosis co-financed eradication programmes 2010"

This 8 page AHW-CIC SCoFCAH document, dated 31 May 2011 with information provided by DEFRA is a pdf file that may be accessed here. Unfortunately, there is little positive, encouraging or new here. The summary mentions: "Government working in partnership with cattle industry and veterinary profession to move to eradication" but one wonders if the farmers and vets feel that much has been achieved.
The post immediately below this one, quoting DEFRA's words "The truth. Nothing has changed" might be thought an apt description for what the "co-financed eradication programmes" have produced so far - except for the deteriorating situation and lowered morale among those most affected when TB tests come back posiitve. One can only hope that the Government's "comprehensive and balanced TB Eradication Programme for England" will, by the end of July, have something more positive to say.

May 2011 ~ DEFRA: " Media reports have suggested that the Government position on badger culling has changed."

Under the headline "Myth Busted" the DEFRA website reports: "The truth: Nothing has changed. We have consistently said that we have yet to make a decision after the consultation on badger control. Bovine TB is having a devastating effect, with nearly 25,000 cattle in England slaughtered last year because of it. This is a complex and sensitive issue, and there has been a delay to ensure the measures we put in place are the right ones. We will announce a comprehensive and balanced TB Eradication Programme for England by the end of July."

May 21st 2011 ~ 'question mark' ??

The Telegraph wonders whether Mr Paice's remark on the BBC's Politics Show might mean that the culling of badgers in the worst TB affected areas will be abandoned:
"We will be making our announcements about it in the not-too-distant future once we're certain that, if we were to go ahead, we could resist the inevitable judicial review that would come. There has to be a question-mark at this moment in time until we make a final decision and an announcement."
The Telegraph reminds readers that farmers had been assured both before and after the election that the government would address the threat from infected badgers. It is not only visibly sick badgers that are infectious and they can spread the disease long before becoming visibly ill. A badger with kidney lesions can excrete up to 300,000 cfu of bacteria in just 1ml of urine; a mere 70 bacteria from a single drop of infected badger urine can provoke a positive skin test reaction, while just 70 colony forming bTB bacteria are needed to infect a cow.
The assumption among those who threaten the Judicial Review seems to be - put bluntly - that at all costs infected badgers should be left alone (where they can continue to enlarge the wildlife infection pool) while the lives of cows and the livelihoods of farmers are not worthy of similar concern and protection.
This protectiveness towards badgers would be admirable and the government attitude would at least be understandable if there were proven vaccines for both cows and wildlife. There are not and the EU forbids any use of TB vaccine for bovines. (In contrast, there have for years been excellent and effective vaccines for foot and mouth disease and the barriers put in the path of using them in the EU and US cannot, it seems, be justified on any scientific grounds.)

May 21st 2011 ~ An announcement is now not expected until July.

At least in the UK the idea has been that badgers would be killed as humanely as possible in a few precise areas. Compare this to the New Zealand plan in which the notorious and slow-killing poison 1080 is to be dropped in "an extensive ground and aerial bovine possum control operation north of Taupo" this week in their own war against TB infected wildlife.

May 15th 2011 ~ "what has struck me throughout is the total lack of any sense of urgency at Defra - or, for that matter, any realisation of how devastating the effects of TB are becoming on farmers."

An article at www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk, following the death of a dairy farmer in Gloucestershire, reveals some of the deep frustration, suspicion and anger among those farmers affected:
"...There are also worrying reports of how some senior civil servants who should be advising on policy appear to be fully paid-up, card-carrying members of the pro-badger lobby, and a climate of fear among Government vets, who are under immense pressure to keep quiet about what they see and know about the problem and about the obvious solution, as they see it. We are rapidly getting to the stage where we should be demanding a public inquiry into Defra's handling of the TB issue over the last 10 years - because I believe it to be totally without precedent in the way it has allowed a controllable disease to spread and ruin the livelihood of hundreds of hard-working farmers...."
Whatever one's position on the subject of badger culling in the hotspots, the rising anger on both sides in the debate shows how unfortunate it is that the disease has been allowed to become, for farmers, for vets, for those who care about animal welfare and for politicians, such an increasingly explosive issue. Read article in full.

May 14th 2011 ~ "with Bovine TB responsible for the destruction of 38,000 cattle last year, the farming industry is bitterly disappointed at another postponement."

An article in the Western Morning News about extremist threats in the badger cull debate, says that when a decision was postponed in February "for further assessment of the thousands of responses that the Government had received" farmer organisations feared the Government might do an about-turn on the whole issue - in the same way that it had done on the sale of Forestry Commission property following a widespread public outcry -
"But within the past month the industry had been led to expect an announcement about cull details some time next week. Yesterday, though, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced there would be a further delay. The Defra Business Plan stated that the end date for the period of the Government's consideration of the TB consultation would now be July. With Parliament going into the summer recess on July 19, an announcement is expected to be made before then - but, with Bovine TB responsible for the destruction of 38,000 cattle last year, the farming industry is bitterly disappointed at another postponement."
It concludes with a quotation from NFU Director of Regions, Kevin Pearce:
"This further delay is a blow and will only increase the level of frustration among cattle farmers who are losing livestock to the disease on a daily basis."
Read article

May 13th 2011 ~" the public are blissfully unaware of the implications for them and their pets of this damn disease"

An email just received comments on the article by Dr Ricardo de la Rua-Domenech, mentioned below. He is based at the Tuberculosis Division of DEFRA and the email reminds us that all the figures for "other species" affected by bTB are sent to him :
Extract from email: "... he knows full well of the hundreds that have died, been euthanised or failed tests. I just don't 'get' his unhealthy resistance to publishing the true figures or making the explanations so obtuse that even we don't understand. Example: Defra's "other species TB sheet" has two tables. (pdf file here from the DEFRA website)
The first is just a single (or two) culture samples from each outbreak or animal. They include no test failures in group mammals, and no deaths - even if examined by a vet.
Table 2 gives a higher figure, and from the explanation we thought it was "samples pending". It isn't. It's a snapshot of TB infection / deaths, confirmed by gross pathology after TB has been confirmed by the sample in Table 1. These animals will have gone through an LVI or VI centres.
So the totals in two tables should be added together - and they are still a gross underestimate of total deaths, particularly in alpacas. One breeder has lost over 100, another 54, in fifteen months. Animals which go direct to the knacker / incineration after slaughter are not counted at all. "
This is rather unsettling since one would have thought Dr Ricardo de la Rua-Domenech would be fully aware of all this - and yet the tables remain misleading. A quick puzzled glance will lead most people to conclude that the numbers of other species killed by bovine TB are very much lower than they really are. As our emailer concludes drily, "PR is important, and the public are blissfully unaware of the implications for them and their pets of this damn disease. By concentrating on cattle/ badgers: badgers/cattle, one can only assume the intention is to keep it that way."

May 12th 2011 ~"We will make an announcement about a total package of measures to combat this awful disease as soon as we possible can."

Hansard Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab): The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 states that a badger cull can be carried out only between May and September. Given that any change to the Act would require secondary legislation, which could be introduced only after 1 October, will the Minister say whether there will be a badger cull this year?
Mr Paice: The hon. Gentleman is aware that we published a consultation last autumn and, as I said to the National Farmers Union annual general meeting, it produced a number of challenges that we need to work through. We will make an announcement about a total package of measures to combat this awful disease as soon as we possibly can."

May 10th 2011 ~ "A significant risk of M. bovis infection remains in certain segments of the UK population.."

A PubMed article "Human Mycobacterium bovis infection in the United Kingdom: Incidence, risks, control measures and review of the zoonotic aspects of bovine tuberculosis" written by Dr Ricardo de la Rua-Domenech at the Tuberculosis Division of DEFRA, seems to contradict DEFRA's recent assessment that the human risk of TB is "very low" Extract:
".... M. bovis also infects humans, causing zoonotic TB through ingestion, inhalation and, less frequently, by contact with mucous membranes and broken skin. Zoonotic TB is indistinguishable clinically or pathologically from TB caused by M. tuberculosis. Differentiation between the causative organisms may only be achieved by sophisticated laboratory methods involving bacteriological culture of clinical specimens, followed by typing of isolates according to growth characteristics, biochemical properties, routine resistance to pyrazinamide (PZA) and specific non-commercial nucleic acid techniques.
All this makes it difficult to accurately estimate the proportion of human TB cases caused by M. bovis infection...
Given the increasing numbers of cattle herds being affected each year, physicians and other public health professionals must remember that zoonotic TB is not just a disease of the past. A significant risk of M. bovis infection remains in certain segments of the UK population...."
(read article at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

May 8th 2011 ~ Bovine TB "an under-appreciated cause of disease and death in humans"

Virtually all warm-blooded animals are susceptible to bovine TB. In addition to cows, the disease can attack pigs, sheep and camelids; wildlife such as badgers and deer; pets including cats and dogs. Bovine TB was found in feral wild boar for first time in UK last year (Guardian) Humans too can harbour the bTB bacterium and suffer from the disease. From various informed sources we have come to believe that the risk to humans from bTB may be greater than the "very low" that DEFRA suggests. The BBC here reported in 2007
"Experts told The Lancet that bovine TB was an under-appreciated cause of disease and death in humans."
This post from the bovinetb.blogspot.com reminds us that bTB is now notifiable in

"...may cause as high as 25.8 percent of tuberculosis in human beings. In Europe, according to reports, mycobacterium bovis is the cause for almost 50 percent of cervical lymph adenitis cases in children."

May 7th 2011 ~ Hallmark Boxter: DEFRA statement "We have decided not to appeal. ..our immediate priority is to continue to work with the owners of Boxster to resolve the TB problem in their herd."

There is no TB problem in the Jackson's herd, and the idea that DEFRA has been "working with the owners" is perhaps an odd way of describing the row. DEFRA's statement evidently infuriated the farmer, Mr Jackson, who is quoted in the Yorkshire Post :
"I haven't got a TB problem. I have had seven consecutive all-clears, which involved Defra vets walking past Boxster to the rest of the herd and refusing to give him the re-test we asked for in the first place.
Officially, the positive test on him is null and void. He is only still in quarantine because I am voluntarily going along with Defra's instructions, although they are driving me to the point of explosion."
DEFRA has not yet paid them the £15,000 downpayment on his costs ordered by Mr Justice McCombe to be paid within 14 days (See below) on April 14th.

May 6th 2011 ~ The slaughter figures are not decreasing

DEFRA figures for January show that ther number of cattle slaughtered across Britain because of bovine TB in January was up by more than a third, compared with a year ago. Today's article and reader comments at Farmers Guardian attempt to put the figure in perspective.

April 30th 2011 ~ Received from Dianne Summers and Dr Gina Bromage of the Camelid Tb Support Group

They write to tell us the website www.alpacatb.org has been updated in the following Sections:
1. News
2. Reducing the risk - a) Increase in Camelid Tb and b) Free Badger and Farm Bio Security Surveys available from South West TB Farm advisory Service.
3. The effects of TB
4. Skin Test side effects (in the You have TB in your herd what's next section)
They write, "We have to give a huge thank you to Mike Birch who not only set up our web site free of charge but updates it at no cost to the TB Support Group. We cannot thank him enough for all his work. No money from your kind donations have gone towards this website. Thank you to all the members of the TB Support Group who have given their data to make this website possible."

April 30th 2011 ~ Closed farm near Penrith in Cumbria - a TB mystery

As the Farmers Weekly says, Cumbria is facing its 1st large-scale outbreak of bovine tuberculosis - but this is a "closed" herd. No movements of cattle on or off the farm have been reported and there seems no indication that any wildlife in the area has become infected. The herd had been tested "clear" 18 months ago, according to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency. But post-mortem examinations carried out on the slaughtered cattle this week have caused vets concern over the length of time the disease may have been present on the farm. Read article
See also the article at the Farmers Guardian. Some of the comments are particularly interesting too for the light they throw on the danger to humans from endemic bTB - and about the growing rise in drug-resistant cases spreading around the world (See also Guardian)

April 27th 2011 ~ Make no mistake: bovine TB is out of control and is the single biggest threat facing the British livestock industry.

Peter Kendall in the Guardian :"the NFU believes it is important that all the available evidence from the Randomised Badger Culling Trials is considered - not just that included in the Independent Science Group report at the end of the culling periods, which shows there was a decrease in the number of herds infected in the surrounding areas.
Make no mistake: bovine TB is out of control and is the single biggest threat facing the British livestock industry. Ill-informed comments do nothing to address the real problems farmers are facing on the ground, whether in their businesses directly, or in the devastating emotional impact on farming families." Read in full

April 25th 2011 ~ Badgers can survive, maintain body weight, and breed - while shedding that lethal load of 300,000 units of tb per 1 ml of pee into the environment.

Extract from the very well informed bovinetb.blogspot.com on the fate of the diseased badger
"It's only during the very final stages of the tb disease cycle that it crawls around half dead, and finally dies horribly from suppurating abscesses throughout its emaciated body.
Farmers see them... They find them huddled in farm buildings, excluded from their family group, seeking food and shelter - anywhere. But by that time they'll have infected half the cattle in the area."
It is heartbreaking that it is the very animal lovers who want to protect our much loved wild mammals, but who are woefully ill informed about the realities of bTB, who will, by their anguished appeals against culling, condemn even more animals to death. They see healthy badgers on Badger Trust literature and collecting boxes - but are not aware of the realities of badger infection and death. Here are some of the unwelcome facts that most prefer to ignore.

April 21st 2011 ~ "Bovine" tuberculosis is not a disease of cattle; it affects many mammals and human beings.

A very different view from that taken in the report below is given on the always readable and well-informed bovinetb.blogspot.com. The most recent post points out that - tragically unlike foot and mouth and bluetongue - vaccination against bTB is simply not a Holy Grail (as we all wish it were.) Extract:
"...what has the progressive lack of action by successive administrations on our particular wildlife reservoir over the last three decades, (and none at all since 1997) achieved? Put another way, what are these tested, slaughtered sentinels telling us? And who's listening with ears tight shut?
In the last few years, the overspill of what Defra euphemistically call 'environmental TB' has gone way beyond cattle. And despite only counting culture samples, and only taking one of those, many group animals and domestic pets are dying in their hundreds.
These victims include mammals as diverse as free range pigs, the owners of whom now a TB leaflet all to themselves, and bison. A couple of years ago, we highlighted the spillover into domestic cats and a high profile case in rare breed goats. But the biggest problem has arrived at the door of the highly susceptible GB alpaca population, with a small group of owners now reporting several hundred deaths..." read in full
( It is extremely unfortunate that the splendidly humane people who deplore what they see as cruelty to badgers are not equally concerned about the misery TB brings to other animals, badgers included, and appear doggedly unaware of the very real difficulties in supposedly quick-fix solutions - or of doing nothing at all.)

April 19th/20th 2011 ~ RETHINK Bovine TB

We have heard from a new research group privately funded by people "with an interest in examining public policy as it affects agriculture, animal diseases, animal welfare and the financial viability of farming."
The report says it aims to
"stimulate discussion and bring Bovine TB policy, essentially unchanged for many decades, rapidly into the twenty first century. We look forward to and welcome comments and criticism from all who read it. Please contact Michael Ritchie, Press Officer on 0207 993 5404 or email: farming at rethinkbtb.org with your comments and feedback."
The report may be read here or for more information visit www.rethinkbtb.org

April 19th/20th 2011 ~ Devon badger vaccination trial starts next month

But the Farmers Guardian article today that reported: "A four-year badger vaccination programme, which could pave the way to the widespread use of vaccination as a way of tackling bovine TB in cattle, will get underway next month on 18 farms on the National Trust's Killerton estate in Devon" seems to have been withdrawn. Update: The Guardian has the story (Wednesday)
"...badgers will be caught in live traps, injected with the licensed BCG vaccine, marked so they will not be injected again and released unharmed. Field trials found the BCG vaccine reduced the incidence of bovine TB in badgers by 73.8%.
John Kittow, a tenant farmer on the Killerton Estate, welcomed the vaccine but said a cull was still needed as part of a package of measures to bring bovine TB under control. ..Kittow's farm is a closed herd of animals he breeds himself, with only disease-free bulls brought in, and he is convinced that soaring badger numbers have spread the disease among his 200-strong organic dairy herd.
Thirty years ago, there was no bovine TB and the local badger population was modest on his farm. Now he sees badgers in daylight and has been barred from selling cattle in six of the past 10 years because of TB.
"I'm in favour of anybody that's prepared to do something to move on the impasse of bovine TB," he said. "Vaccination will be a good tool in the arsenal but you still need a way of keeping the badger population under control and at the same time preventing cruelty because no one wants any cruelty towards badgers."
The shut downs and slaughter of diseased cattle have cost Kittow more than £150,000...."
Read in full It will be remembered that five similar schemes were cancelled last year "on cost grounds" and that the time scale for a viable oral vaccine for susceptible species keeps receding; the nature of the bacterium makes vaccine development a continuing problem. As James Paice says, "There are still significant technical and regulatory challenges to overcome before a cattle vaccine would be available for widespread use. This includes the need to change EU legislation." The same old problem of the EU mindset - and while the ban continues there can hardly be any incentive in Europe for cattle vaccines to be developed.

April 16th 2011 ~ Another note on Hallmark Boxter

We hear from another dairy farmer:
"...The bull failed gammaIFN - which is not unusual. But this was after a catalogue of errors in testing several animals too big to fit into Mr. Jackson's crush. Vials dropped, vials mixed, you name it - it happened.
But one for Dr. Fink re semen. If a farm is under TB restriction, then no embryo work on females can be undertaken, and if a bull has EVER been on a farm while it it has been under a TB2 restriction, then no semen from it can be sold out of the UK. Ever. So it makes collection unviable. While the bull is in limbo like this, no semen company could legally touch him for collection anyway, as technically he is a TB reactor, having failed a designated test, albeit a secondary one. North calls it 'proof unto itself'. The test could have been carried out by a one eyed maverick, on the wrong farm and on the wrong animal, but the documentation stands. Or stood, in this case.
So what happens now, I don't know. Defra could not afford to lose this - but they have."
Many thanks for this clarification. We learn too that the camelids treated with Isoniazid (isonicotinic acid hydrazide), the antimicrobial that has been used as a first-line agent for prophylaxis and treatment of tuberculosis since 1952, have not survived. As for poor Boxter, the rules are that gammaIFN is a secondary test, and even if he passed that, he would still have to pass a skin test to be cleared. As we remember from the bovineTB Blogspot posting April 22, 2008 "His master's voice - GammaIFN"
"..... Mr. Maidment to - err, retest his cattle. Defra still shot the cattle. The gammaIFN pilot study was a farce, and then this blasted test was launched on the industry with Defra knowing that it had a very dodgy sensitivety."
The posting is well worth reading in full. Realising that it is three years old and yet so very little - still - has changed for dairy farmers, does nothing to dispel the frustration and dismay.

April 16th 2011 ~ a complete lack of imagination and enterprise

An email from Dr Colin Fink (link mended) sums up what must be the reaction of many to the expensive court action taken by DEFRA in the case of the prize bull, Hallmark Boxter - kept in isolation - whose owner was not permitted a retest when, it seems, DEFRA's officials conducting the first test had not followed the permitted procedure.

April 14th 2011 ~ Judge, quashing slaughter notice on prize-winning bull, tells DEFRA it had made "a policy mountain out of what was a farm molehill".

Mr Justice McCombe has reprieved Hallmark Boxter (see below) The bull had tested TB-positive last April.but his owner said the sample was invalid because DEFRA officials had not followed the correct procedures. He wanted the sample retaken, even offering to pay the costs. In reprieving the bull, the judge refused DEFRA permission to appeal, although the Department can still apply to the Court of Appeal. The case will cost £15,000 to be paid by DEFRA within 14 days. Full story at Fwi

March 31st 2011 ~ " This includes the need to change EU legislation" James Paice

In answer to a question about bTB vaccination asked yesterday, Mr Paice said,
"... DEFRA has invested around £18 million into the development of a cattle vaccine and associated diagnostic tools. There are still significant technical and regulatory challenges to overcome before a cattle vaccine would be available for widespread use. This includes the need to change EU legislation. We therefore anticipate that a cattle TB vaccine could not be used in the field before 2015 at the earliest."
He had also told the House that DEFRA would ".. publish a comprehensive and balanced bovine TB eradication programme for England as soon as possible." Hansard

March 31st 2011 ~Ear tag swapping "Mr Paice stressed the illegal activity was not widespread but was being carried out by 'a very small minority'."

The Farmers Guardian reports on an investigation by Defra and Trading Standards which "found a small number farmers had swapped eartags from TB positive cattle with less productive animals, sending them to slaughter and retaining the infected animals on the farm. In a direct response to the findings, farm Minister Jim Paice announced a new regime which will see cattle testing positive for TB immediately tagged and a sample of their DNA retained by Animal Health. These samples will then be cross-checked at random, or where fraud is suspected, against the DNA of animals sent to slaughter."

March 15th 2011 ~ "Four years after the badger culling trial had began, 2001 saw one of the biggest challenges facing not just farming, but the UK as a whole...

...The foot-and-mouth outbreak prevented routine testing of bovine TB and infected cattle were not able to identified and removed." An article in www.tivertonpeople.co.uk attempts to give a "brief history of Bovine TB and badger culling in the United Kingdom". (In 2006 Muckspreader (Private Eye) wrote:
"... as the vets have now comprehensively exposed, the Krebs trials were only a pseudo-scientific charade, never designed to work. Even Defra admits that the percentage of badgers culled was sometimes as low as 20 percent. .. the tragedy rolls on: for farmers, for cattle, for taxpayers, and for all those sick badgers, condemned to a lingering death."
read in full)

March 10th 2011 ~ BVA : " failure to tackle wildlife sources of TB infection has prolonged the presence of the disease in all affected species populations".

The British Veterinary Association's Statement on bTB control can be read in full here. Its realistic advice concludes with the recommendation:
"Research into the best use of current diagnostic techniques and the development of new diagnostic techniques is of the utmost importance as is the further development and deployment of vaccines for the control of bTB."
However, given that Wales' Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones yesterday laid the Badger (Control Area) (Wales) Order 2011, which allows the culling of badgers in the area of West Wales known as the "Intensive Action Area" as part of the Welsh Assembly Government's programme to eradicate bovine TB and has also announced new controls to deal with TB in non-bovines, which include camelids, goats and deer, Harvey Locke, President of the BVA, said:
"The BVA believes that failure to tackle wildlife sources of TB infection has prolonged the presence of the disease in all affected species populations.... We hope this action in Wales will focus attention on what is happening in England as we await Defra's response to its consultation on tackling TB. While the delay in the announcement is frustrating for all those vets and farmers dealing with the disease, we understand that it is vital that the Government gets it right and bases any decision on sound science."

March 7th 2011 ~ "...it's not just the farming industry that has to carry the responsibility. Other organisations have an equal contribution to make"

Laudable words from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, which is to begin vaccinating badgers this summer where badgers and cattle co-exist in its nature reserves (Alistair Driver reports this in the FG today).
Although this will be seen by many as a very positive step, it has to be remembered that present vaccines, such as the BCG vaccine, work only if given before exposure to the bacterium. See below.Once again we have the Catch 22 situation with vaccine R&D that money is unlikely to be spent on development if the companies fear there is no market for the improved product. EU Legislation currently prevents the use of vaccines in cattle, and authorisation from Europe is needed to change that.
The more positive news is that researchers at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, have been testing an experimental TB vaccine in mice aimed at offering protection both before and after exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It targets the TB bacterium in the late stage of infection and prevents reactivation "by combining early-expressed antigens with proteins that are expressed as the bacteria adjust to persisting in a host with a fully developed adaptive immune system." jama.ama-assn.org

February 28th 2011 ~ "... minimising perturbation, and/or its negative consequences, is central to risk management."

On February 16th a briefing paper (pdf) was circulated to MPs covering the extensive background, political and otherwise, to the bTB issue. Central to all this is the "Veterinary assessment of the risk factors associated with proactive badger culling " which sets out what Defra's veterinary advice "endorsed by the Chief Veterinary Officer" considers a culling strategy must take into account
"A culling strategy should be
a. Sustained (at least annual), undertaken on a regular basis over a period of at least 4 years in order to achieve low local badger populations in high TB incidence areas;
b. Over a large area (the evidence suggests a minimum area of 150 km2);
c. Conducted where land access is over 70% of the area;
d. Effective and humane and conducted by competent operators; and
e. Where possible, conducted in areas with boundaries or buffers (such as motorways, conurbations, coast, and substantial rivers) around the culled area to mitigate any risks from the perturbation effect.
The licensed Badger BCG vaccine could also be used as a tool to mitigate the negative effects of perturbation. This is likely to be beneficial but not fully protective against the negative effects of perturbation. Immunity takes time to develop and so vaccination would need to precede culling. There is limited evidence about the impact of vaccination in field conditions."
All worthy advice - but one's heart sinks at point 41:
"Training in capture and culling techniques will be needed to ensure that the operators are competent and that culling is as effective as possible, in order to minimise perturbation. Education will also help to ensure understanding of the risks of inefficient culling and ensure adherence to welfare requirements."
suggesting just how theoretical and far from immediately applicable all this is at present.

February 28th 2011 ~"we need to concentrate efforts at vaccination on badgers testing clear (as shown by cattle tests ) and stop shilly shallying around the desperately infected ones"

Simpler advice is contained in an informed and interesting email received today from a desperate dairy farmer:
"...we need to concentrate efforts at vaccination on badgers testing clear (as shown by cattle tests ) and stop shilly shallying around the desperately infected ones. There really is no other way, and it doesn't have to be 'wipe out' over large areas either. As long as the whole group is removed, quickly, then perturbation does not occur.
I favour using PCR to identify infected setts, by air, urine or sputum (not faeces) but until Defra get their act together, a map of cattle tests in the area, with an overlay of badger territories will do just as well, with bait marking to back up where problems are coming from.
Perturbation was phenomenon caused by the RBCT's (Randomised Badger Culling Trial) ad hoc forays into a grossly infected population - for 8 nights only, using cage traps, many of which were interfered with or stolen, with badger inside."

February 16th 2011 ~ At the NFU Conference, James Paice has warned farmers of a 'whole raft of issues'

More detail as soon as possible - but it sounds as though Mr Paice is warning farmers at the conference that there will be no badger cull any time soon in England. Update: Farmers Guardian
"The Government decision on introducing a badger cull in England is on hold while a 'whole range' of obstacles are addressed, Farming Minister Jim Paice has told the NFU conference. Ministers had hoped to announce a cull as part of a wider package of bovine TB control measures this month but the decision is now on hold, probably until May at the earliest. The outcome of the decision, which once appeared to be a foregone conclusion, now appears in the balance.... the challenge of developing a robust mechanism to ensure the licence conditions are adhered to .... the conditions attached to the licence
...the role of vaccination in protecting those areas from infected badgers.
..how various security issues are addressed, including the threat of activists.."
Read in full at Farmers Guardian website

February 15th 2011 ~ NFU conference 2011 Caroline Spelman says little about bovine TB - but insists Goverment is "determined to get it right".

Caroline Spelman has thanked farmers for their "patience on bovine TB" and says "We need to get this right, so we need to follow the process very carefully." There has been speculation that Defra would be in a position to announce its decision on plans for a badger cull in England in February. This is unlikely, an announcement in late Spring/early Summer is now considered more likely.
(One Tweeter has commented that Ms Spelman reminded him of a schoolteacher whose delivery was "flat" after NFU president Peter Kendall's "excellent" speech, and another "Spelman's analogy for the role of farmers in economic recovery: green bricks...farmers are the brick layers..." Another sums up the disappointment with the Coalition government: "You would have thought the first NFU conf with a Tory minister for some years would be a love-in. Doesn't feel that way...." To hear the most interesting snippets from the NFU conference use Twitter search term #NFU11. News in real time. Extremely useful.)
Caroline Spelman's full speech is here (Word document)

January 26th/27th 2011 ~ TB testing up for tender

Dr Ruth Watkins writes today:
" I am not quite clear what the situation is with the vets in Bulgaria but it sounds as though they will be prevented from working with cloven hoofed animals for months. This seems a dreadful state of affairs, for the vets too - out of work.
And in the UK? There is bidding to take place for TB testing in the UK which - if the local vets already doing it are unsuccessful - will have huge consequences for the large animal vets in parts of the countryside. I don't really want out of work Bulgarian vets doing the work on the cheap rather than my local vet whom I trust. The result of state vets, who have nothing to do with pathology and TB work in the lab, being in charge of the field test results, is dire in the UK."
We see that DEFRA is pointing out on the relevant page that the "Changes to the procurement of professional veterinary services" is "necessary in order to comply with the requirements of European regulations and UK national law..." The Questions and Answers hardly fill one with confidence about the details of the scheme - particularly when one reads a sentence such as : " at this time of stringent controls over public expenditure, it is very important that the taxpayer's interest is protected."

January 24th 2011 ~ "A vaccine which can both protect against initial infection and protect from a breakdown of infection into disease is a major breakthrough."

Current vaccines, such as the BCG vaccine, work only if given before exposure to the bacterium. News last night from the BBC describes a new vaccine, tested so far only on mice, by a team at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen
" combines proteins that trigger an immune response to both the active and latent forms of Mycobacterium."
Professor Francis Drobniewski, Director of the Health Protection Agency's National Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory is quoted: "This is an exciting and thoughtful piece of research. The existing BCG vaccine is cheap, safe, widely used but of limited efficacy." The article looks at the issue from the standpoint of human health - but veterinary scientists will be watching with interest.

January 23rd 2011 ~ "Changes in Tb controls from 1st January" do not apply to camelids

Dianne Summers writes:
"When the BAS email went out I was inundated with calls and emails from camelid owners including Europe who because of the email presumed that camelids now fall under this new legislation. I must admit even I was confused. I apologise for not replying to those that contacted me individually but before I release any information regarding DEFRA/AH policy I always check with Senior Officials at DEFRA first. I have checked with Senior officials at Tb Policy at DEFRA and they have confirmed this DOES NOT apply to camelids. Both myself and Defra have notified BAS and I have asked BAS to also send out another email to the members to clarify this. The changes apply only to cattle, farmed buffalo and farmed bison herds, which (unlike camelids and other non-bovine farmed animals) are within the scope of EU Directive 64/432/EEC and, therefore, subject to mandatory routine TB surveillance by tuberculin skin testing at regular intervals. There are no 'officially' TB free herds of camelids in the UK for the simple reason that they are not routinely screened for TB with a validated ante-mortem test as most cattle herds are, plus there are no agreed criteria for designating camelid herds as 'OTF' Officially Tb free).
Those that are NOT currently subject to movement restrictions due to an infection confirmed by VLA should at best be regarded as 'TB status unknown'
She added that camelids are still not subject to routine testing. Current TB policy relating to camelids which was updated recently can be found on the website www.alpacatb.org. Thanks are due, as ever, to Dianne.

January 23rd 2011 ~ "Boxy" the bull reprieved while his owner makes one last bid for a re-test

Hallmark Boxter is an extremely valuable prize-winning British Blonde bull. It tested positive for TB in April and was due to be slaughtered last Wednesday. However, a High Court judge has allowed time for his owner, Ken Jackson, to appeal on the grounds that the blood sample had been wrongly carried out last April. Evidence was heard in court from Professor Paul Torgerson that the sample might well have been contaminated. See FWi

January 4th 2011 ~ Advertising Standards Authority upholds nine complaints

See Farmers Weekly ... the ASA ruled that claims made in the advertisements breached either truthfulness, substantiation and matters of opinion codes on nine occasions.
These claims included false assertions that the proposed badger cull in west Wales had "no scientific justification" and that it would "exterminate a native breeding species"..."

December 20th 2010 ~ ". ..cheaper than any attempt at culling and much more effective at reducing population and the presence of diseased animals..."

In all the gloom of the understandably desperate desire of culling on one side and the almost wilful lack of comprehension on the other, comes the relief of an informed email from Dr Colin Fink that looks constructively at what is really currently possible, desirable and practicable. Extract:
"all I can do is reiterate that we have no decent science for differentiating carriage from clinical disease ( and thus excretion of the organism) the promise of vaccine ( as we have at present) is illusory, and for cattle where it will render all of them skin test positive, so preventing even our present poor test for previous exposure to the organism, no longer a discriminator (but it has never been useful for testing for clinical disease in cattle, badgers or any other mammal).
The skin test is of some minor use for suggesting a very strong white cell response ( and potential clinical disease) in man, but some with widespread disease, like cattle or Alpacas, show no response.
What I would do is establish badger feeding stations and give them hormones to stop oestrus, so reducing the population by natural loss. Also I would give this decent food with triple antibiotics. It would need some coordination but would be cheaper than any attempt at culling and much more effective at reducing population and the presence of diseased animals."
This seems so well-informed, humane and practical that we can only hope that someone somewhere is listening to such advice.

December 20th 2010 ~ "You have to overcome EU legislation"

Professor Glyn Hewinson and his team at the VLA have been working on cattle vaccine since 1998. Professor Hewinson in this BBC audio clip from yesterday's "On Your Farm" talks about the difficulties and says although developing a cattle vaccine is both lengthy and costly, breakthroughs are being made in developing diagnostic DIVA tests to differentiate between the disease and the vaccine - and if all goes to plan, a vaccine could be licensed in the UK in 2012. "Then the long process of convincing the EU to lift a ban on cattle vaccination for TB will begin in earnest."
Interestingly, the clip suggests that the experimental animals are well looked after and free from stress.

December 15th 2010 ~ The first response to the cattle lick issue

We're grateful to John Tuck, the Wiltshire farmer, for this email: extract: "Cattle licks with extra selenium and iodine could possibly reduce the number of infected animals that go on to display clinical symptoms, but the purpose of the testing regime is to remove infected animals before they develop clinical symptoms." Other comments are very welcome.

December 15th 2010 ~ Cattle licks with extra selenium and iodine may give protection

We are reminded in a kind email today from a reader who has recently been in touch with the director of the Carmarthen-based Trace Element Services Ltd, Danny Goodwin-Jones, that nutrition is regarded by many as vital. Trace Element Services Ltd was founded nearly thirty years ago:
"By trial and error I discovered the vital importance of trace elements or micro nutrients to our stock and was able to correct the problems we were having very quickly....About 10 years ago I began to realise that the increasing incidence of bTb was related to a lack of natural immunity in cattle caused by the imbalance of trace elements..." (See Western Mail, 2 years ago)
Mr Goodwin-Jones developed techniques of treating pastures with small amounts of missing elements. He pointed out that bTB spread is not necessarily a result of activity by diseased badgers. He gave the example of a farm isolated on one side by the Severn river and on the other a main road. The farmer has 10 acres of maize. Badgers love maize and one can always tell when they have been in it - but this farmer has never seen badgers. He has, however, lost 55 cows out of his small herd over the last few years.
As for boosting immunity in badgers, we are told that one lady farmer makes up the mineral supplements with large tubs of peanut butter. Badgers adore this.
As long ago as 2003 - 2004, the EFRA Committee report on bovine TB ( pdf file 85 pages) took Col. Goodwin-Jones' work on trace element restoration seriously: Extract and other links. We would be most interested in receiving informed comment on this issue (email).

December 14th 2010 ~ The NFU has published its response to Defra's consultation - and the public has replied in their thousands in support of the RSPCA's opposition to culling badgers.

The NFU supports the Government's preferred policy, option 6, which involves a combination of licensed badger culling and vaccination. "The union said the proposed culling methods - shooting of free-ranging badgers combined with cage trapping and shooting - will be 'the most efficient, humane and cost-effective methods of controlling the badger population and will significantly reduce the transmission of disease to cattle'." Read Farmers Guardian report on the NFU submission.
A very different article in the Farmers Guardian (link here) will be read with dismay by the ever increasing numbers of farmers and alpaca owners who are faced with the despair and grief of the killing of reactors. We read that the RSPCA "submitted nearly 40,000 messages from the public objecting to Government plans to cull badgers in its response to the consultation on the subject" - and as some comments beneath the article are already making plain, the disregard of the RSPCA and so many members of the public for the lives of cows and calves, and their apparent contempt for the livelihoods of farmers, is distressing. To many, it would seem, "some animals are more equal than others".

December 14th 2010 ~ Bovine tuberculosis testing in Wales has revealed a high incidence of reactors in an area thought to be relatively free of TB

Grim news from Farmers Weekly. Under TB Health Check Wales every cattle herd in Wales has to undergo an annual TB test and farmers have to have cattle tested before moving them off farms.
"...Over a 15-month period, 11,761 herds, including 4000 in areas with few recorded cases of bovine TB, were tested. The TB Health Check Wales testing programme uncovered 103 new cases. More than half of these were in north Wales in areas previously believed to be low risk. Reports published this week detailing the results of this initiative conclude that it has created a better appreciation of the geographical clustering of infection."

December 14th 2010 ~ "It is not the methods that are the problem, it is the process that's the problem, and it's completely dysfunctional! That's not how to stop the spread of T.B."

A farmer, Philip Allsop, sends warmwell.com his analysis of the bovine TB problem. Its main contention is that if only cattle vaccination were available, suitable and accepted, everyone would win. He has sent a precis of the submission he sent to DEFRA as part of the consultation. The sentence in his submission that particularly stands out as undeniable good sense is this:
"....we are being told that it is EU Legislation that prevents the use of vaccines in cattle, and that authorisation from Europe is needed to change that. So it follows then that if the authorisation is needed, it should be gained."
Until there is an accepted market for TB vaccines for cattle it is highly unlikely that such a vaccine will be developed and marketed. Meanwhile, the bitter arguments on both sides of the debate continue - as does the spread of bTB.

December 8th 2010 ~ Last chance to send an email to DEFRA's TB consultation

Email: tbbc@defra.gsi.gov.uk There is no need to try to answer the eight questions of the consultation document if one prefers to make general comments. These will be accepted.

December 7th 2010 ~ BGC vaccine isn't effective, alas.

DEFRA needs to be reminded that the vaccine that has been so hyped in the last week is not going to eradicate TB in badgers and can only slightly reduce the massive excretion of bacteria each infected badger can drop. Healthy badgers are a wonderful sight - far less rare now than in the past because they have no predators. But they are extremely susceptible to bovine TB and, when infected, get progressively more and more ill and distressed. The bacterial load increases, and only with time does the badger become sick with clinical signs. But long before it becomes sick it will shed the bacteria - so it is not only visibly sick badgers that are infectious. In infected badgers there may be huge amounts of bacteria in even microscopic lesions.
Just 70 colony forming bTB bacteria are needed to infect a cow. A badger with kidney lesions can excrete up to 300,000 cfu of bacteria in just 1ml of urine.
And just 70 bacteria from a drop of infected badger urine can provoke a positive skin test reaction.
The killing of badgers - however humanely done - may seem distressing but not to eradicate sick badgers means the disease will spread even further. The continuing spread of TB doesn't only threaten cows and badgers but people and pets too. DEFRA can be emailed with comments - and we are now into the last hours of the consultation. It is not essential to respond to each of the 8 questions asked. General points are taken into consideration.

December 6th 2010 ~ Save Our Livestock?

"The trauma of witnessing 23 cattle including six calves shot dead in a pen on their farm due to bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has forced a distressed Monmouthshire couple to consider selling the rest of their herd and keep sheep instead. .. After the first one was killed there was obviously a great deal of panic amongst the remaining cattle. Some of the cows were very heavy in calf and, in fact, one of them had calved the previous night...." www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk
The Badger Trust says "Save our Badgers" and that "English Badgers are under a Terrible Threat". A justifiable and generally ignored cry from farmers is that our livestock has been under threat and suffering traumatic death now for years. There is real desperation and grief in the hotspots.
There is one day left to respond to the Consultation. Farmers Weekly quick links are here. There is no requirement to respond to each of the eight questions put forward in the consultation as general comments will be taken into account. Can we hope for a humane, combined approach involving some attempt to cure as well as kill?

December 4th 2010 ~ Bovine TB Blogspot's commentary on DEFRA's press release about Gloucestershire trial below is well worth reading

In the interests of balance, please do read the commentary at bovinetb.blogspot.com Extract:
".... the authors are keen to stress that :
"It's important to realise that the 74% (73.8%) figure represents a reduction in incidence of positive antibody tests brought about by vaccination and should not be equated to a vaccine efficacy of 74% "
And they do say that in the paper. But it is a pity Defra (or whoever wrote the press release) didn't realise that. Or the media or anyone else similarly taken in or misled by the headlines which followed the press release...And the media fest, headline grabbing, 800 badgers, 74 per cent reduction in TB? Which most of Defra's 'lay readership' swallowed hook, line and sinker? Is that all right too..... ? "
Please do read in full

December 2nd 2010 ~ Although in the wild, tests show 74% success rate of badger vaccination, EU Directive 78/52 still means there are no vaccine trials for cattle.

The BBC has reported on work in Gloucestershire to test the safety of giving badgers BCG injections. Every badger in some randomly chosen setts received a dose of BCG. In the other social groups, none was vaccinated. More than 800 badgers were involved in the trial, and then all were tested for TB infection each year, to see how the incidence of disease might differ between vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals. The results were much better than in lab-based experiments. This could be because "the animals are probably exposed to a lower level of disease".
"We're really excited about the results, because we didn't design the trial to look at changes in the incidence but to look at the safety of giving animals BCG," said Robbie McDonald, head of the Wildlife and Emerging Diseases team at the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera).
"All of the safety aspects are fine, and that's why we now have this licensed vaccine - but the exciting thing was we had this strong effect of the vaccine on incidence, a 74% reduction," he told BBC News."
The article reports that "scientists are also working to develop an oral version of the vaccine, which entails giving the active ingredients a protective coating so they are not broken down by stomach acids."
The snag, of course, is that - as the BBC puts it - a trial of the vaccine in cattle
"could take years to conduct and cost millions of pounds; nothing as comprehensive is being planned."
What the BBC does NOT make clear is that the sticking point in getting cattle vaccinated against bTB is that Article 13 of Directive 78/52 requires member states to ensure "anti- tuberculosis vaccination" is prohibited under their eradication plans. Madness.

December 2nd 2010 ~ "Why have so few farming folk bothered to give their views to the DEFRA consultation?"

asks the Farmers Weekly www.fwi.co.uk:
"With just a few days remaining before the consultation ends, now is a time for urgent action not apathy.... . Vaccination and improved bio-security will be necessary to tackle this disease. But licences to cull infected badgers humanely and safely will be essential too if we are to stop the reservoir of infection in wildlife.
.... Even arable growers should be motivated to air their views as they too will be directly affected if the livestock sector continues to decline." Read in full - including questions and answers.
You can email direct to Defra at tbbc@defra.gsi.gov.uk or post a letter to TBBC Mailbox, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR (or fax 020 7238 6431.) There a standard response template which can be found on the NFU website.

November 22nd 2010 ~ The important and humane film, "The Way Forward", can be watched freely online again

We gratefully acknowledge the skill and generosity of those who have made this possible. You can watch the film here. More about the film, its humane approach, and how to obtain the full sized, best quality version, click here.

November 20th 2010 ~ A Badger cull is needed to fight bovine TB - to suggest farmers "want blood" is grossly insulting, says Peter Kendall

See letter in yesterday's Guardian
"...We do not advocate this policy lightly but this has to be the way forward if we want to make a real impact in reducing the levels of TB in cattle.....we are supporting the government proposal on a badger control policy because the latest science supports that. We know that there is no single solution to bovine TB, that we will need to continue with tight cattle control and that, as in industry, we have to play our role in eradicating bovine TB. But we also know that, if we don't tackle the disease in badgers, we won't make any progress."
Hard not to agree with the NFU President that it was unfortunate that George Monbiot in his recent article (15th November) "carefully selected the research he has used".
One continues, in this horrible and still escalating situation, to be baffled at the way the lives of prized cattle are seen by many to be so much more expendable than those of badgers . Badgers, once infected, are very unfortunately tragically efficient spreaders of the disease to farms and to each other and although, at long last, strides are being made in the field of TB vaccines, they are simply not good enough yet to stop the disease in its tracks. ( What irony it is that the bTB situation should be the mirror image of foot and mouth. For FMD, vaccines are excellent and can stop the disease in its tracks - but the preemptive use of FMD vaccines is dismissed in the EU on purely political and economic grounds. If FMD vaccines are used early enough, contiguous killing should be unnecessary.)

November 15th 2010 ~ " Vaccination is included in Option 6 to cover individuals who do not wish to allow a cull on their land but are prepared to pay a trained and licensed operator to vaccinate instead"

The Consultation ends in only three weeks time on December 8th. As Bill Harper, Chairman of the NBA bTB Committee urges,
"It is essential that as many as possible support Option 6, because TB will otherwise become endemic across the UK, creating new infection in free range pigs, sheep, goats, cats, dogs and people as well as cattle and many more badgers."
The problem is not going to go away and action has been delayed for years because it is seen as such a political hot potato. Without urgent action now, however, the disease will spread even further - and many sensible people seem to agree that Option 6 would be the best way forward.

November 11th 2010 ~ New support recommended by TBEG last year is announced by Jim Paice today.

One of the recommendations made by the Bovine TB Eradication Group for England in their 2009 Progress Report (pdf) was that TB affected farmers needed more effective and better focused support and advice. According to the Progress Report (see extract) this was
"given a high priority, the intention being to roll-out the new advice package in early 2010." (more)
Jim Paice announced today that all TB affected cattle farmers can now access free support from the Farm Crisis Network (FCN) on the financial and business implications of an outbreak, and that trained volunteers would provide confidential advice and information on where to go for more specialised help and support.
For the worst-hit farmers, FCN's new Business Support Group will work directly with farmers to provide tailored advice through the length of their outbreak.
More on the Bovine TB Eradication Group for England, including Meeting highlight notes can be accessed from DEFRA's updated webpage

November 8th 2010 ~ "...we hope that people will be able to see for themselves the detailed research that went into the development of the vaccine and understand the opportunities and challenges of using vaccination."

Research reports related to the control of bovine tuberculosis in badgers have been made public today and when Professor Glyn Hewinson, Head of the TB Research Group at the VLA, and Professor Robbie McDonald, Head of the Wildlife and Emerging Diseases Programme at Fera speak of both "opportunities and challenges" they mean that vaccination against bTB for badgers is by no means the silver bullet that we should like it to be.
All the same, in field trials "vaccination resulted in a 74 per cent reduction in the proportion of wild badgers testing positive to the antibody blood test for TB in badgers."
"... A key finding of the field study, conducted over four years in a naturally infected population of more than 800 wild badgers in Gloucestershire, was that vaccination resulted in a 74 per cent reduction in the proportion of wild badgers testing positive to the antibody blood test for TB in badgers.
The blood test is not an absolute indicator of protection from disease, so the field results cannot tell us the degree of vaccine efficacy. While the findings indicate a clear effect of vaccination on badger disease, data from the laboratory and field studies do not lend themselves to giving a definitive figure for BadgerBCG vaccine efficacy. Nor do they provide information on the effect of badger vaccination in reducing TB incidence in cattle.
A scientific paper summarising the results of the injectable BCG badger vaccine research has been accepted for publication by the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences) and will be published shortly..."
Read in full Defra is also publishing today (See below) the results of new computer modelling by Fera which suggests that badger vaccination could make a positive contribution to disease control in its own right and was "consistently positive when used in combination with culling in a ring vaccination strategy" (i.e. culling in the core area, and vaccination in the adjacent ring area.)

November 8th 2010 ~ EXTRACT from DEFRA Website:

November 8th 2010 ~ Auctioneers Kivells have announced they will be holding the UK's first auction of TB-restricted store cattle and dairy stock at Holsworthy Market on Monday, November 22.

See www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk ".... Up until now all cattle from farms where any animals have registered positive to TB tests have been subject to a 60-day movement restriction, which has caused havoc to trade on thousands of agricultural holdings. Farmers have been unable to take cattle to market which were ready to be traded, until the whole herd tested negative for TB - putting on crippling financial burdens, and running down fodder stocks during winter months...."

November 7th 2010 ~ "From the start I was determined to steer clear of the politics and produce a film with a firm educational base..."

"The Way Forward" as a free streamed DVD has now been withdrawn from the Mole Valley website. As we wrote in July, "a recent letter to the sponsors of "Bovine TB - A Way Forward" expressed a certain disappointment at the way the DVD seemed not to have come to the attention of people who could well have been moved and impressed by it. Chris Chapman added, "I have said it a thousand times and I will say it again:
The reason for making our film was to educate the public on the tragedy of this disease and to try to bridge the gap between the farming industry, wildlife groups and a largely ill-informed public....the simple fact is that Bryan Hill's strategy works and there are many out there who will give testimony to this... "
The 25 minute film can be purchased for £4.99, which includes postage and packing. It is available through Chris Chapman's website at www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk. The squeamish need feel no reluctance to watch it. We found it to dwell - not on recrimination or sadness - but on positive steps that can be taken. And it is beautifully filmed and edited. We feel that the notion that such a film is "political" is laughable. The suggestion that it

November 4th 2010 ~ "...vaccination for cattle will be available in 2012 (with the DIVA test). " DEFRA

Sally Hall at www.bovinetb.co.uk writes, ".... ....the stumbling block is now the EU procedures, which, we are told, will not be completed until 2015! This is not good enough and derogation should be sought NOW " See full posting on www.bovinetb.co.uk

October 27th 2010 ~ "The new Culling Strategy of Jim Paice is as wrong as is his enormous actual consultation," writes vet, Ueli Zellweger

The Swiss vet, Dr Zellweger's view is:
Consultation
It does not help to ask some hundred Associations or other bodies for their opinion - it just distracts from the main issue.
The main issue is a veterinary problem of biggest scale. It is an epidemic disease which is out of control.
Best thing Jim Paice could do is call in 2 or 3 of the worldwide veterinary professors ( epidemiologists ) with highest reputation; to present them with the actual facts and to listen with what they come up with after 2 days …. and then to act accordingly.
Actual Culling Strategy
As it is drafted ( 150km2 areas) it will fail. Catching/trapping and shooting does not work efficiently enough. It is fact that one never succeeds to shoot more than 60% of all badgers in such an area. Apart of it being quite time consuming and expensive it is a frustrating job. After shooting half of all badgers of a sett the surviving badgers will start to stray ( risk of perturbation? ) or will get elusive.
What should happen:
Shooting one or two badgers at each sett and investigate if they had bTB. If positive the very sett has to be closed down and kept tight for 18 months or better 2 years (checking every 3 months if reopened). There is no alternative."
More from Dr Zellweger can be read here.

October 25th 2010 ~ Chris Chapman's moving and informative short film, The Way Forward, can now be watched online.

More about this film below.

October 25th 2010 ~ Welsh Assembly Government issues a fact sheet about bovine TB to every household in its Intensive Action Area

Elin Jones has been to see what she calls the " immense human cost to bovine TB". The Farmers Guardian reports on the Welsh Minister's visit to Nick and Nadia Gwynnes' prize winning Chestermann herd of pedigree Simmental cows in which - and for the first time in 31 years of farming - a reactor was found. Now, the farm is under TB restrictions and Nadia says, "...We now have to keep and feed the cattle over the winter and because we are organic this could cost us £15,000. As a consequence we are reluctantly thinking of getting out of being organic." and adds that she can not believe the impact the breakdown has had on the family both personally as well as financially.

October 20th 2010 ~ bTB. "the voices of the people who live day in, day out, with the heartache and suffering this disease causes..."

NFU Cymru Deputy President Stephen James is quoted at www.farminguk.com explaining the often misunderstood and unfortunate truth that bTB vaccination in its present form can be used only to prevent and not cure bTB disease:
"Farmers, more than anyone, would dearly wish for a vaccine to be available that could be used as part of a range of measures to help rid this disease from our countryside. However, the facts are that we remain a number of years away from being in a position where vaccination can genuinely be considered as part of a TB eradication strategy for Wales. We have an opportunity now to use proven methods to begin the road to TB eradication. This is why NFU Cymru backs the proposals put forward last month by the Assembly Government to implement a badger control strategy alongside cattle control measures in an Intensive Action Area of west Wales.
It is vitally important that the industry shows its support for the Assembly Government's recently announced proposals. As individuals directly affected by this disease each one of us has a responsibility to spend a few minutes to write, e-mail or respond on-line to the new consultation to ensure that the voices of the people who live day in, day out, with the heartache and suffering this disease causes are heard loud and clear."
Read in full

October 12th 2010 ~ to gain a licence to cull, applicants will have to demonstrate that within the area of at least 150 km(2 )there is access for culling to over 70% of the area.

Latest from Hansard on licences, costs, policing and vaccination. Extract: "Planned expenditure on bovine tuberculosis vaccines during the current financial year (20010-11) is £6.7 million. This includes vaccines research and the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project. No decisions on future spend will be made until the results of the spending review are known."

October 9th 2010 ~ New Website bTB in Alpacas and llamas (Camelids)

Dianne Summers, Dr Gina Bromage, and recently resigned B.A.S. Chair Mike Birch, have developed a new website dedicated to the subject of bTB in Camelids. The purpose of the new www.alpacatb.org website is to help affected camelid herds and also to educate camelid owners about the serious issue of bTB - with the hope it will reduce the risk of it happening to them. Please see attached information

Oct 8th 2010 ~ "I don't believe that farmers or animal lovers in Britain need to be adversaries over badgers - it is the disease that is the problem and we all share an interest in a real solution."

Saddened by the negative tone of the recent DEFRA report of its meeting "Bovine TB and the use of PCR" in July, we wrote to Dr Roger Breeze for comment. His letter, typical of his vision and humanity, can be read in full here. Extract: " I would like to believe that 160 years from now those same farm and badger families would be living together in Herefordshire, walking the same fields that are forever England."
Let's make this vision possible by joining forces across the adversarial divide. As Roger says:
"I am no expert on bovine TB and badgers. But I think I have learned something from spending half my life in science in the UK and half in the US....Let's legislate in 2010, irrevocably, that no more badgers will be killed after December 31, 2015. That gives us 5 years to develop and validate alternatives. What are those alternatives? I don't know. But I do know that they exist and that unless we search for them seriously and with a sense of urgency they will not be uncovered. One way to start that process would be for the RSPCA and those interested in badgers to commission the Royal Society to develop a scientific strategic research plan based on the premise that killing is no longer acceptable. ...."
Read the letter

Oct 7th 2010 ~"..The combined knowledge of the staff involved in all of the previous culling strategies has never been utilised or sought when putting together a policy..."

The EFRA Select Committee, in compiling its 2006 6th Report, sought evidence from all sides in the debate about proposals for introducing badger culling as a bTB control measure. One Memorandum submitted was from Paul Caruana who had worked for the Defra Wildlife Unit. He wrote:
"I feel that I have enough anecdotal evidence, gathered over my 12 years, to have a good feel for what should have happened in the war against TB. Unfortunately, and as I know only too well, this type of evidence isn't usually acceptable, but here it comes anyway...."
What followed were 12 points that showed not only that "You do not need large scale culling for it to be effective if the culling effort is robust from the start" but also how and why the Krebs trials had been so flawed.
The written evidence of another veterinary surgeon, D J B Denny, pulled no punches either and, with its expert knowledge, concerns and humanity, is wholly relevant to the policies now the subject of the DEFRA Consultation.

Oct 5th 2010 ~ DEFRA: PCR "not a test that could be usefully used for detecting TB in badgers based on the current state of knowledge, particularly in the field."

The pdf file "Bovine TB and the use of PCR" is a report from July. Professor Bob Watson was the Chairman.
It is disappointing that the summary contained so many tentative statements and words of caution
"If the further research...was pursued, PCR might have some use for testing badgers for TB in the future.... current uncertainties may not be resolved and a practical (or low cost) test regime developed.
If the uncertainties surrounding sample extraction and handling could be resolved, and an integrated assay procedure validated, an automated portable test might be feasible in the longer-term..... would depend on the outcome of an appropriate experimental programme and the resources applied..."
It seems very unfortunate that "resources" were not "applied" when the UK economy was booming.
See pdf of DEFRA's report in full. It refers also to the trials done at Warwick in 2006 after which their press release must have raised the hopes of many four years ago.

Oct 5th 2010 ~ "....farmers may have missed the mention of the £1.6 million they are expected to stump up for each 150 sq km, controlled under Defra's favoured Option 6."

(See Consultation document. (pdf) Option 6 enables groups of farmers or landowners "to apply for a licence to tackle TB in badgers through culling, vaccination, or a combined strategy of culling and vaccination. For those undertaking culling either on its own or in combination with vaccination, the full criteria for culling as proposed in section 4 of this consultation document would always need to be met...143. The farming industry/landowners will cover the direct costs of culling and/or vaccination. Government will put in place arrangements to issue licences in response to applications meeting the criteria, and will take responsibility for monitoring the effectiveness, humaneness and impact of badger control measures.." )
The BovineTB Blog's most recent post reminds readers that
"..having explained in the Final Report of the ISG that culling badgers 'in the way it was done in the RBCT' was expensive and inefficient, a very similar scenario is proposed for a farmer controlled cull. Only this time, it will be the owners of cattle, alpacas, sheep, goats and outdoor pigs, who pick up the tab and not the taxpayer."
adding that Caroline Spelman is the only Minister in the world, "( of whom we are aware ), to throw control of the zoonotic disease known as 'bovine' Tuberculosis back to farmers, with her department and her employees taking no active part whatsoever, other than monitoring cattle breakdowns."
"...we think it is important that everyone directly involved with this: cattle farmers, owners of other herd or flock mammals, owners of dogs and cats, many of which have succumbed to 'badger' TB, veterinarians and supporters of healthy British wildlife reply to this consultation paper in a sensible and coherent manner."
Read the post in full and see DEFRA's separate Annex F for suggested costs of Option 6

Oct 1 2010 ~ Peter Kendall says, " a massive thank-you must go to Jim Paice for the real leadership he has shown when dealing with this truly difficult and divisive issue. And what a divisive issue."

The whole of the NFU President's speech can be seen here. Extract:
"When you see normally balanced journalists from the national press disregarding all of the facts and focussing on their own version of the truth about bovine TB, then you know that you've got a fight on your hands.
But don't forget that a consultation is exactly that - a consultation. It's government asking a list of stakeholders what they think of its proposals. That list is long and growing as any number of groups and individuals - including pop stars and respected naturalists who may or may not have read the consultation - come forward with a 'no' to fill the minister's postbag.
...we must make sure our voice is heard and that doesn't just mean the NFU, it means individual farmers must write to the minister as well. Not only will we need to demonstrate solidarity in the coming months, but also patience. Even if we see the ministerial decision go the right way, it could be judicially reviewed ..."
Read in full And on the DEFRA website, the Consultation links are here - and see NBA Director Kim Haywood's remarks re consultation.

1st October 2010 ~ Camelids: Gamma Validation Project Goes Ahead.

Dianne Summers writes today (Extract):
"Contracts have been signed and the Camelid Gamma Validation Project commences. It is envisaged it will be completed by mid 2011
The project not only aims to validate the Camelid Gamma Interferon but ALSO the Chembio Rapid Stat Pak Test.
Both tests have ALREADY been used and trialed on a large number of members of the TB Support Group and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude...
We also need to give a huge thank you to the Alpaca owners from TB Free areas who have offered up 300+ ALPACAS for the trial. ......"
Read in full

October 1st 2010 ~ "We accept that there is no point addressing cattle-to-cattle transmission without also addressing the wildlife reservoir of Bovine TB...." National Trust

The Farmers Guardian has an article today on the National Trust's cautious statement:
" If the criteria for a successful cull can be met - and it is legal and carried out to the highest possible welfare standards as part of a package of measures that includes more rigorous approaches to reduce cattle-to-cattle transmission - then we would not object to culls taking place in areas that include our land, where it can be shown all other routes have been explored.
We accept that there is no point addressing cattle-to-cattle transmission without also addressing the wildlife reservoir of Bovine TB. We feel strongly that this should be done as part of a comprehensive package of measures."
Read in full.

September 27th/28th 2010 ~ "The fallout from the Foot and Mouth epidemic rumbles on in the form of increased levels of TB in both badgers and cattle."

Farmer Phil's Podcast 0235 "Two wrongs need a right" was first netcast on Monday. It is excellent in explaining, calmly and humanely, the problems caused by the huge increase in the disease - and by the dire and unhelpful explosion in the badger population since the mid 90s when badgers became "protected". Phil's wife, Heather, asks the questions. These are the questions that many wildlife lovers and those unfamiliar with the way farmers are affected by government policies might want to have answered. What emerges clearly is how the situation has got so much worse since the disruption caused by foot and mouth policy in 2001 - and Phil explains very clearly what has been happening in the past difficult decade, what the present government's policy now is and what it involves. Farmer Phil and his family - like so many others - want to see healthy badgers and healthy cattle, and think the present suggested policy is the best we can hope for in such a grim situation. It is easy to listen to the podcast in full. This is a real farming family speaking without rancour, evidently hoping that the gulf between the two sides in this issue can be bridged by understanding. (The slip over which year saw the 2001 FMD crisis doesn't detract in any way from the good sense of the talk.)

September 21st 2010 ~ BVA and BCVA joint news release

The news release quotes Professor Bill Reilly, President of the BVA,:
"The BVA supports the Welsh Assembly Government's commitment to tackling bovine TB and we welcome the consultation on a new Order.
It is important to remember that the Court of Appeal did not rule against the science of the original Order, but the process by which the decision was reached."
Keith Cutler, President of BCVA says:
"Unlike the earlier Order that was rejected by the Court of Appeal, the draft TB Eradication Order announced today by the Welsh Assembly Government will focus on an Intensive Action Area where bovine TB levels are extremely high.
BCVA is highly supportive of the WAG's new proposals as they will introduce a badger control strategy alongside stricter cattle control and biosecurity measures."
See BVA news releases in full - and for specific details of the consultation see the Welsh Assembly Government website:

September 18th 2010 ~ Oddly unhelpful behaviour from B.A.S

Like many others who are deeply concerned at the way bTB is racing through alpacas in a form so highly infectious that swift onward spread to others and to other mammals is inevitable, we were saddened to hear that the British Alpaca Society has refused to cooperate with a research student from Nottingham university. This is what the Bovine TB Blogspot has to say:
"..... In July, she asked the B.A.S. if they would kindly email her short survey to all their members, or put a contact within the magazine which is circulated to members.
She offered B.A S. the results of the survey.
After some considerable delay, the B.A.S. declined her offer, politely offering their "regret" that they were "not able to circulate this for you." The full letter, with the views of some alpaca owners, and BAS members can be viewed here....
As Matthew says, the BAS reply could be summarised as follows:
"No. We do not want to know about bTB in alpacas. We are trying to run a business here."
In contrast, Dianne Summers says, "The camelid TB Support Group welcome the findings of your study. I am disappointed the B.A.S didn't do the same."
The veterinary student's letter and survey is also on warmwell.com here. (new window)

September 17th 2010 ~ "... he was condemned to a painful death I would not allow any of my farmed animals to endure."

devonfinefibres.wordpress.com writing with that farmer's usual compassionate good sense:
"....I wish I had been able to shoot the diseased, maggot- infested old badger that was shuffling painfully about here a couple of years ago but had I done so, I could have been prosecuted. So he was condemned to a painful death I would not allow any of my farmed animals to endure.
Now we all know that not all farmers are scrupulous or fussy about what they shoot but I know for a fact that most are. Most will not want to touch their badgers. My cattle farmer neighbour this morning said just this.
"Well I hope our neighbours don't want us to shoot here", he said. "We haven't got it and I don't want to kill our healthy setts and allow dirty badgers in!"
This is a common view. Farmers KNOW that if they have badgers and yet are TB free the chances are that the badgers living alongside their cattle are also TB free.
I think its important to realise before the "Let's all hate the badger killing farmers" lobby gets going, that MOST farmers will not want to or need to get involved and that for the small minority who have the biggest problems and obvious disease on their farms, it will be a last resort."
Read in full

September 16th 2010 ~ James Paice's Ministerial Statement yesterday "No one wants to kill badgers but scientific evidence and veterinary advice clear..."

Extract from full text:
..The situation is steadily getting worse ... we are under increasing pressure from the European Commission to strengthen our controls. ...it is clear that the approach to date has failed.
There is no single solution to tackling bovine TB.. Cattle measures will remain the foundation of our bovine TB control programme but we will not succeed in eliminating the disease in cattle unless we also tackle the disease in badgers. The science is clear, there is no doubt that badgers are a reservoir of the disease and transmit bovine TB to cattle. No other country in the world with a similar reservoir in wildlife has eradicated TB from cattle without stringent wildlife control measures.... The Government's proposal will empower farmers to take control of reducing the risks of transmission from the wildlife reservoir at the local level...Licences would be subject to strict criteria...
...my assessment is that vaccination will not be as effective .. Vaccination does not guarantee that all badgers are fully protected from infection and it would take some time to develop immunity within a local population.... "
Read in full

September 15th 2010 ~ Both sides in this polarised debate deplore the possible destruction of healthy animals - but doing nothing is no longer an option.

This morning, the Farmers Guardian reminds us that Jim Paice is about to launch "a three-month consultation to seek views on proposed methods of culling badgers and the criteria that will be attached to badger cull licences". One might be forgiven for thinking that the government has had enough opportunities to talk to enough experts by now to know how to proceed - and forgiven also for suspecting that consultations are rarely more than governmental back-covering exercises.
However, a joint press release from the BVA and BCVA says (extract)
"The veterinary profession has warmly welcomed the launch of the Defra consultation on tackling bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in England, which includes recommendations for badger control in areas where bTB persists at high levels, despite attempts at control using other measures...."
Read press release in full. The CLA says today: "This is not all-out war on badgers. The need for a farmer to obtain a licence will ensure that any action taken against wildlife will be necessary and appropriate..." The licence will also allow for badgers to be vaccinated in the designated area. Gassing and snaring have both been ruled out as options by Defra on animal welfare grounds. (See also latest from the FG Most comments so far seem reasonable and encouraging.)
The RSPCA, we note, have today issued a press release: "Say 'no' to new plans for a badger cull in England"

September 15th 200 ~ And yet another consultation begins...

Today's consultation document here (pdf).
A paragraph such as this, from RESEARCH PAPER 98/63 of 1998 was followed by 12 years of government dithering. :
"A government report has suggested that a five year study should be carried out to determine once and for all whether badgers are responsible and whether culling would be an effective strategy for dealing with the disease...."
It reminds one of the consequences of the UK's hesitation in getting to grips with such a serious disease - and one that is increasing globally.
The years when money could have supported the development of viable vaccines passed without result - mainly, perhaps, because of the stance taken by the EU. Article 13 of Directive 78/52 requires member states to ensure "anti- tuberculosis vaccination" is prohibited under their eradication plans. This must have made research and development of viable badger and cattle vaccines for use in the EU seem a waste of time, effort and money.
Bovine TB is a particularly difficult bacterium to diagnose and combat - as was explained here by Dr Ruth Watkins, whose own championing of the wildlife on her farm cannot be doubted.

September 13th 2010 ~ The Welsh chief veterinary officer has written to the chairman of the Badger Trust

According to vetsonline.com Christianne Glossop has written to express her concerns at the way the campaign group is using national TB statistics in its campaigning. She included charts of the number of animals slaughtered and the number of confirmed new incidents each quarter for Wales and the whole of Britain from 2007 to 2010 extracted from the national statistics, claiming the charts reinforce the danger of trying to identify short term trends and turning points in the presence of such huge variation. The main picture is a highly variable series with large variations around any underlying trend. The main messages are:

September 10th 2010 ~ Ireland. " further substantial reduction will be difficult until badger vaccination programme is implemented."

SCOFCAH's presentation, published on September 7th,presentation includes comment about Ireland's "targeted badger removal under licence where implicated in a breakdown" See ec.europa.eu for the 2009 Eradication Programme for Bovine Tuberculosis (Ireland) by SCOFCAH (Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health) pdf presentation, 17 pages. Extract:
Implementation of programme is showing good results:-

September 10th 2010 ~ "she was operating solo, no mobile phone back up, and not supported by a fleet of police cars and officials in white coats" - An emailer responds to the Chirk Farm story below:

"...my mother as a relatively young vet in the mid 1960s worked for the Ministry doing TB testing in Lincolnshire, and was used to getting an initial frosty response from farmers - not only because they did not want their animals tested as they feared they would be killed, but also because they had been sent a woman vet...On one such occasion the farmer met my mother brandishing a gun, to see her off the property. She however succeeded in calming him down and agreeing to having his animals tested (she was operating solo, no mobile phone back up, and not supported by a fleet of police cars and officials in white coats). She had sheer guts, determination, but above all common sense and a real and genuine understanding of human nature and of farming. She was a country person with an inbuilt intuition and sensitivity that so many officials in our urban dominated society completely lack."

September 9th 2010 ~ "We have a zero tolerance approach to farmers who don't comply with the law .."

The Wrexham Leader reports on an ugly incident today that happened at a farm in Chirk. The farmer evidently did not want to comply with the regulation that cows must be TB tested once a year.
A warrant was obtained "to enforce the overdue tests".
In the course of the visit three cows were shot. A neighbour is quoted:
" It was a big operation with police and other official looking people taking part. There were two to three quad bikes and several Land Rovers around."
The whole story is not known - but such a scene cannot help but recall upsetting incidents, still fresh in the memory, when "officials", backed up with police and others, have shown "zero tolerance" when enforcing policy. The reason given for the shooting of the cows, according to the article, is that they "started behaving dangerously" - something cows will only normally do if spooked by incompetent handling.

September 9th 2010 ~ Another case of bovine TB in South of France

A third farm in South West France has been found to have bTB (see below). All 500 animals on the farm are to be killed. A total of 110 cows have already been killed on the other 2 farms. Around 30 farms in the French department of Ariège are now under quarantine. See Vetsweb.

September 7th 2010 ~ "impossible to combat bovine TB (bTB) without tackling the disease in wildlife," says Jim Paice

The Farmers Guardian quotes Mr Paice today:
"As I have said many times before, no country has eliminated TB without addressing the wildlife reservoir. New Zealand is fortunate in as much as its reservoir in wildlife was in the possum - which is not everybody's favourite animal in New Zealand - and therefore controlling them was a lot simpler politically to deal with the problem than it is for us to deal with it in badgers."
The very popularity of the badger has meant that the problem of the wildlife reservoir has not been solved. It remains a political hot potato - not because the vociferous minority cares about so many thousands of cattle being summarily killed on dubious evidence - but because the formerly shy and delightful badger holds such a place in English hearts. Without viable bTB vaccines it is necessary to kill infected badgers if we are to stop the spread of disease - but what upsets those who hate the idea of trapping and killing badgers is that some healthy badgers are inevitably going to be put down along with the sick ones.
What a tragedy that there has been no money available to ensure that there is a wholly reliable test for setts and no oral vaccine to protect wildlife. Since there is not, who can blame livestock farmers for their own desperation and desire to protect their animals? 14, 000 cattle have already been killed this year as a result of bTB. Farmers are going to be mightily relieved and grateful for Mr Paice's courageous political stance.

September 6th 2010 ~ " it is the right thing to do. We cannot go on not taking action to deal with this huge problem.."

The Telegraph quotes a "senior source" at DEFRA following Caroline Spelman's approval for plans for a cull in the areas worst affected by bTB. If farmers can prove that a cull is necessary on their land and the surrounding area they are going to be allowed to kill and vaccinate badgers themselves. "... the Coalition has responded to pressure from farmers' groups and some scientists who insist that culling is the most effective method of dealing with the epidemic." No one yet seems to know much beyond the basic determination that farmers should be given powers to act. DEFRA is "currently developing proposals for public consultation in the coming weeks". Read article

September 2nd 2010 ~ Other Species "...new tables have an even fuller explanation of just what Defra are not counting..."

Another devastating posting from the BovineTB Blogspot. DEFRA's office personnel may be pitied for having to battle with printed figures and muddled sources - but these "fuller explanations" are a way both of smudging accuracy and covering DEFRA's back for the lack of accuracy - and neither helps when so much is at stake for people on the ground.
Extract from the post (which needs to be read in full):
"..when one looks for figures of 'other species' TB casualties on Defra's website, it is probably more informative to read the notes and see what isn't being counted, especially those detailed in Note 2.
Note 2: Cultures and post mortem examination may not be carried out at the VLA on every animal removed from a herd once TB has been confirmed. Therefore not all animals removed for TB disease control purposes will be reported above. i.e., where multiple skin or blood test reactors are identified in an infected herd undergoing TB testing.
Skin and blood test failures? Not counted. Deaths where no cultures have been collected, but gross pathology has indicated TB? Not counted.
These animals are dead...."
Read post

1st September 2010 ~ Many will be watching and waiting to see the outcome of the "Hallmark Boxster" case

The Champion British Blonde bull, Hallmark Boxster, won his category in every show he entered last year. His value can undoubtedly be calculated in five figures - but DEFRA wants him slaughtered after the gamma interferon test gave a "marginal indication" that he was a TB carrier.
His owner, Ken Jackson, is not the first to have challenged such a diagnosis, nor the first to be refused when he asked to pay privately for a retest .
After several months of stand-off, DEFRA has now been told by the High Court judge in the case, Mr Justice Collins, that the prize bull should be given another chance and vets should indeed re-run the test.
It will be of interest to many to see if DEFRA is prepared to run the risk of a re-test's suggesting that the original diagnosis was wrong. Although the gamma interferon test is the best we have in the armoury at present it is not infallible and more effective alternatives could be available - given political will. (The commercially available form of the assay, Enzyme Linked ImmunoSpot (ELISPOT) T-SPOT® TB (Oxford Immunotec, Abingdon, UK), now has European regulatory approval for use on humans.) The Welsh government claimed, perhaps rather unwisely, in May 2007 during the Shambo case, that the Defra tests were "99.9 per cent accurate". In the same month we were informed by an eminent microbiologist that a positive skin reaction to bTB is "not more than an indicator for the animal having met the infection and raised antibodies and a white cell memory." (read in full)

30th August 2010 ~ bTB on a farm in South West France

83 animals on a farm in Ariège have been culled and 12 other farms in the area are under supervision. One of the animals during a routine inspection at the abattoir appeared to have vesicles but it took several weeks before the authorities could definitively say it was bovine TB. All affected farmers have been offered "all possible help and assistance". More detail

August 28th 2010 ~ Bovine TB is back in the Netherlands

Thanks to the real-time news magic of Twitter, we learn with sadness that TB was found after routine testing of a butchered cow in Friesland - and that 20% of the other cows at the farm tested positive. These were culled. The remainder will be isolated for 2 to 4 months and tested regularly.
The Netherlands has been mercifully free of the disease - but in 2008, an isolated outbreak was traced back to the import of calves from the UK. Siem-Jan Schenck, chairman of the department of cattle with the Dutch Agricultural Board, said that no more British calves should be imported into the Netherlands. However, even though the EC tabled a proposal to SCOFCAH which would have made the export of calves from Britain virtually impossible, the committee rejected the idea. An official said at the time (July 2008): "The EU Commission is still keeping our TB control programme under scrutiny. A number of Food and Veterinary Office reports have identified perceived shortcomings - for example in the frequency of testing and the use of parishes as control areas. They may come back on this in future." See below. Animals on 48 other farms which delivered animals to or bought animals from the TB positive farm are being tested. The link is herewww.agd.nl (Dutch)

August 27th 2010 ~ "apart from a change of heads in Westminister and great deal more anguish .... absolutely nothing has changed..."

The always excellent Bovine TB Blogspot has taken a closer look at the inaccuracy of Defra's statistics with regard to numbers of "other species" which have succumbed to tuberculosis. Matthew examines "fudges" in the guidelines for notifications, and has been ".. assured by vets and AHO staff further down the ladder that they are reporting positive post mortems to the local VI centre, who in turn confirm their reports to Defra, London. But there the logs appear to jam. Although the lift goes to the top floor, the figures appear not to be passed to the people in FFG who collate those statistics." Read in full

August 26th 2010 ~ Camelids: "... under-reporting figures is contributing to a 'lack urgency' within DEFRA" FG

The "official" DEFRA figures for alpaca herds under Tb movement restriction are wildly inaccurate at 35. As the posting below makes clear:
".... a minimum of 49 herds have been affected. Sadly as one of my group come out of restriction another comes on. Those in touch with the TB Support group have suffered 155 losses between 1st Jan 2010 and 1st August 2010 so our small group has already exceeded the number of losses for last year..... Herds have been affected not only by direct local wildlife but by way of purchase or agisted mating and sadly lots of alpacas on long term agistment have fallen to TB...." read in full
The Farmers Guardian today reports on Dianne Summers' alarm (see below) that some commercial herds are passing on the disease to unwitting clients and failing to give their full movement records to Animal Health - which means AH cannot contact them to offer testing.
Farmers Guardian reports on Dianne Summers' campaign for TB controls on camelids in England to be put on the same footing as those for cattle. She stresses that a more accurate test for alpacas is required. Farmers Guardian:
"DEFRA is facing calls to tighten up bovine TB (bTB) controls for non-bovine species in England, amid signs the disease is spreading far more rapidly in some species than official figures indicate. ...Once TB has been confirmed in herds of non-bovine species, subsequent animals that test positive to the skin or blood tests 'may not be examined', Defra says. "Therefore not all animals removed for TB disease control purposes will be reported," a note accompanying the statistics admits. This was confirmed by an irate owner of a heavily infected alpaca herd, from Devon, who told Farmers Guardian he had recently reported a dead animal to Animal Health to be told he would have to organise and pay for any post mortem, himself."
Once again we seem to be witnessing DEFRA's inability to understand that farmers will not cooperate willingly in disease control measures if doing so means they are both inconvenienced and out of pocket.

August 20th 2010 ~ Welsh Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones has launched a consultation on a draft legislative order to control TB in camelids, goats and deer.

The Welsh Assembly Government is consulting on proposed legislative arrangements for managing and preventing incidents of bovine TB in non-bovine animals, specifically camelids, goats and deer. Start of consultation: 19/08/2010 End of consultation: 11/11/2010. See link to online form etc.

August 20th 2010 ~ "sadly as always, the decent honest and responsible herds that are under restriction are going to be tarred with the same brush as those that are not."

The August update of camelid herds under restriction shows that many herd owners remain totally unaware that they have brought TB into their herds until they suffer their first loss. The current figures, the perceived problems, and the needed actions are all discussed - (as is a warm acknowledgement to MikeBirch who resigned from the BAS Board in early August). Read camelid update for August (link mended) - for which, grateful thanks as usual to Dianne Summers.

August 20th 2010 ~ Promising (highly technical) news in Nature.

A research paper dealing with a breakthrough in testing human patients in order to identify which individuals will develop disease has implications for vaccine and therapeutic development. (There is gathering evidence that those who go on to develop invasive disease with a number of organisms have a different genetic profile from those that do not.) Anything that adds to the pool of information about such a complex disease must surely be helpful eventually to both humans and animals.

August 17th 2010 ~ "the change proposed would be a false economy as well as adding to the stress of the farmers and animals concerned"

The Tenant Farmers Association chief executive, George Dunn, is quoted in the Farmers Guardian following the TFA's plea toJim Paice not to take responsibility for TB testing away from local vets.
"New arrangements are to be introduced requiring that all herds of more than 100 animals should be tested by a State Veterinary Officer as opposed to a private veterinary practitioner"
|The motive for this change has not been made clear but saving money seems to underlie most policy these days. But TB testing forms a vital part of private vets' income and removing it will simply increase financial pressures on both vets and farmers. Mr Dunn "insisted there were other ways in which money could be saved, including updating the test which is around 50 years old." Read the article.

August 16th 2010 ~ "I'd like Ruth's opinion of using the cattle 'microbiology'"

Pat Bird has sent this useful email to warmwell.com and wonders what the virologist and farmer, Dr Ruth Watkins, might say in response. Ruth's reaction (see below) to the 'management' of badgers plan, illustrated in Chris Chapman's DVD was to point out the lack of microbiological back up. Pat Bird writes:
"I know some who've seen the DVD or who have heard Bryan Hill speak think that he goes on a farm, sniffs the air like a dog, and says this is the sett of a 'skanky badger' or 'good badger'. But there really is far more to the 'management' of an infected area than that, and it does involve a lot of veterinary info on the cattle side, combined with wildlife fieldcraft.
.. There is microbiological support - the cattle. No one is using the cattle test results and spoligotyping to pin point source any more. It used to be the package which was used by AHO to ask for permission from the old Badger Panel, to conduct a badger cull. A risk assessment done on farm records, (now with CTS / BCMS back up ) to positively exclude any bought in cattle, postmortems, then a VLA spoligotype on culture to identify the strain of TB. And finally a WLU field mapping to track badgers or deer relative to cattle grazing areas. Often the sett responsible was not on the farm which its inhabitants were foraging, in which case AHO couldn't touch it! Statute changed in 1987 and reduced land available from 7 km down just 1km of any confirmed outbreak, and then only on 'land cattle had grazed'. So if the sett was in an orchard, or ungrazed woodland, no one could touch it.
The management of infected badgers proposed by the film makers, goes back to this. The area,( several farms not just one) is mapped and with veterinary input, cattle test results are used. Then fieldcraft tracking shows healthy setts with cattle testing clear, and also, from cattle reactors, where problem ones are. Visual inspections of setts sometimes confirm, sometimes not. But the prime driver is the cattle information. And that includes gross pathology, histology, cultures and spoligotyping.
Hope this helps."
Other informed comment is very welcome. (email warmwell)

August 12th 2010~ New Zealand government funds "an entirely new type of vaccine that could increase the effectiveness of treating livestock against the disease"

A report from Radio New Zealand briefly mentions that:
"AgResearch scientists developing a vaccine to protect cattle and deer from bovine tuberculosis, are also exploring an entirely new type of vaccine that could increase the effectiveness of treating livestock against the disease."
The research programme includes the development of improved TB testing methods and will get further NZ Government funding of $750,000 (£341,000) per year for five years.

August 10th 2010 ~ "The appeal court ruling is of course a major set back, especially for those farmers whose businesses are being destroyed by this horrendous disease"

Extract from the NFU President's message to farmers (See Meat Trade News)
".... I encountered many who were quite understandably cross and frustrated. For Wales this issue will now become entwined in politics, as there is a Welsh Assembly election in May next year and any new proposal will need another consultation and this will almost certainly rule out any cull this season.
For England, the coalition government commitment to introduce a carefully managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with bovine TB means that the new Defra team will be hard at work, continuing to examine the options as I write this. The ruling in Wales will not only help to make sure that these arguments are well articulated but also that the procedure is legally watertight."
Read in full.

August 5th 2010 ~ "If I had received this email back in January 2009 not only would I have understood why my alpaca had this reaction but I would have certainly adopted a totally different approach."

For those who share concern about the severe progress of TB in affected camelids - particularly the sudden deterioration after the skin test in some already infected animals, these important documents regarding side effects in camelids following the skin test jab will be of urgent interest. Extract
"...Before you jump to the wrong conclusion and think the skin test jab has given these animals Tb, this is not the case. ALL these alpacas were found on post mortem to have advanced Tb lesions and for some unknown reason had experienced this dramatic reaction. Many leading vets have already suggested anaphylactic shock.
Those owners that carried out the Chembio Rapid Stat Pak test or Gamma test within 10 - 30 days following the skin test - the blood tests picked up ALL the animals that had this dramatic reaction. Owners who didn't have blood test done had to endure either the alpaca dying or developing severe clinical signs which required euthanasia on welfare grounds.
Therefore, please monitor your herd very closely following the skin test procedure..." Read in full
Thanks are once again due to Dianne Summers. The video referred to can be seen on the Bovine TB Blogspot

July 30th 2010 ~ " the importance of monitoring alpacas after a skin test should not be underestimated."

Highly recommended to camelid owners - and indeed to anyone else who is concerned and distressed at the impasse which is allowing bTB to continue unchecked - are the latest posts from the Bovine TB Blogspot.
While those who know little about bTB continue to feel and express such anger at farmers who want to protect their animals, the realities of the disease are borne by the animals in which the disease develops and takes hold - badgers and alpacas in particular - and by those who see at first hand the post-mortem evidence of this destructive and ultimately horrifyingly painful disease.

July 27th 2010 ~ "...a beautiful and sensitive film....the most striking thing to me is the lack of microbiology to back up the hypothesis put forward."

Once again, we are very grateful to the virologist, Dr Ruth Watkins, for her continuing correspondence about bovine TB. She has watched the DVD "The Way Forward" and was evidently as impressed by it as so many others are. However, she is worried by the comment "BCG vaccine would conceal infection in sick badgers which is the big danger", explaining that in the context of M bovis infection and BCG vaccination such a statement has little meaning. She points out that since M bovis infection is a progressive infection, the bacterial load increases and eventually the badger becomes sick. Before it

July 26th 2010 ~ Reappraisal of triple therapy in oral bait

A fascinating email from Ruth Watkins demonstrates that those who really are concerned about the urgency of the need to tackle bovine TB are prepared to keep an open mind. As she says here:
".... I am finding out more about M bovis in an effort to understand the infection and disease and to think outside the box. ... I have argued against Colin Fink's idea of putting out triple antibiotic therapy bait for badgers hitherto. However if there is essentially a reservoir of M bovis in badgers and cattle (and deer, camelids, cats etc) that humans almost never get maybe such an approach together with vaccination of badgers and birth control of badgers / population reduction would not be such a bad idea after all. Vaccination of cattle and testing and culling of infected cattle would have to continue to get rid of M bovis infection. The cycles of infection would be broken, stopping reinfection of either badgers or cattle from the other species...."
This is an important, albeit necessarily complicated email that sets out Dr Watkins' reasoning. It should be read in full. Informed comments would be very welcome.

July 22nd 2010 ~ Must we continue to watch the slaughter of thousands more cows, bulls and alpacas, and to know that infected badgers are dying slowly and alone?

Just as Professor Fraser (see opposite page) wants to see a scientifically based dialogue between the two sides in the factory/extensive food production debate, there is a desperate need for the polarised arguments about the best way forward to tackle bovine TB to be coolly reconsidered. Dr Ruth Watkins is not only an expert in disease pathogens but also a practical farmer who cares deeply and conscientiously for both the livestock and the wildlife on her farm. She says that she
" ..used to believe that there was insufficient evidence about 5 years ago to justify the killing of badgers which seemed like part of the inane response.... to the FMD epidemic when of course there was a highly effective vaccine ready for use. I have changed my mind about badgers now..."
It is painful to contemplate the killing of badgers. The alternative, until vaccine can be effectively given, is to watch the slaughter of thousands more cows, bulls and alpacas, to know that infected badgers are enduring a slow, miserable and painful end, and to see the threat to other mammals, including Man, increasing.

July 22nd 2010 ~ FUW president wants a legal cull of badgers carried out under licence.

Any organised Welsh cull could now be a year away. Speaking at the Royal Welsh Show on Tuesday, Gareth Vaughan said
"..that is too long for an industry which is suffering terrible hardship."
Mr Vaughan pointed out that since the Welsh Assembly won't be back in session until late September, no new legislation is likely before the start of the closed season when badgers cannot be killed. "It may be May before we are in a position to tackle the disease and that is too long away," he said. (See report on Farmers Weekly)
At present, any application to carry out a large scale co-ordinated cull, even with a commitment to sustained delivery and funding from farmers, would not be granted. This is according to the relevant pre-May 11th DEFRA webpage, (not yet updated to reflect any new policy on licences.)

July 17th 2010 ~ "The ISG's final report, published in 2007, explicitly states that badgers contribute significantly to the disease in cattle." Jim Paice

Hansard Mr Paice's comments on Thursday about the various (and contradictory) officially observed effects of culling trials, about computer modelling, "biosecurity" and progress with injectable and oral vaccines, can all be read on Hansard - but in terms of clarity and urgency many might feel his remarks leave something to be desired.

July 17th 2010 ~ VLA now includes TB as "common" disease of camelids

Dianne Summers has kindly sent us the useful Veterinary Information Sheet (pdf) (link mended - apologies) from the VLA's Miscellaneous Exotic and Farmed Species Expert Group South American Camelids. It is an "Aide memoire for the diagnosis of common disease syndromes." She adds
"The majority of the diseases can be detected ante mortem (live animals) so this is vital information as it details the tests and the diseases it can detect. The abortion section is very interesting and proves the importance to PM all deaths including aborted cria. All these tests can be arranged through your vet - who can arrange tests with the VLA on your behalf."
She also emphasises that it is about time breeders' websites stopped implying that alpacas rarely get ill or get many diseases. "Breeders websites should state that camelids are subject to diseases the same as all other livestock," she says.

July 15th 2010 ~ "Human" TB is no longer a disease of the past

The Independent today reports: ".. there has been a resurgence and the incidence has steadily increased. There were 9,153 cases among adults and children recorded in the UK in 2009, the largest annual increase (5.5 per cent) since 2005..." Public Health specialists now advise that all babies born in London should be vaccinated.
Unfortunately, vaccination against TB is not without its problems (as we have discussed below in connection with animals) BCG is known to have little impact on the prevalence of the infectious adult tuberculosis, responsible for the spread of the disease in the community. ( The vaccine that was intended to be used in badgers is identical to the BCG vaccine widely used in humans. It is manufactured by the Statens Serum Institute, in Copengagen, which produces vast quantities of the human vaccine. For a discussion about the limitations of present vaccines, see below.)

July 15th 2010 ~ NBA reaction to High Court decision: "No farmer or farmers' organisation has ever envisaged eliminating badgers from the countryside.."

" the request has been that there should be a targeted cull in limited areas by qualified and licensed persons, and even then only where the TB disease can be shown to be present in a high proportion of badgers." The National Beef Association's Kim Haywood, in this press release explains that the High Court ruling could mean that the disease will now spread to healthy badger setts. Over the next ten years "the spread is expected to cost many farmers a lot of money and distress, and the tax-payer more than £1 billion..."
"..Records show that TB erupts among badgers in heavily infected areas when their population is too thick on the ground and immediately reduces when it is thinner after infected badgers are removed. ..." Read the NBA press release in full
The NBA wants the public to comprehend the huge increase in the number of badgers which, as a result of the judgment, will now die an unpleasant emaciated death from TB. They add that the "Appeal Judges' other fear, that badgers in Britain would become extinct if they were subject to anti-TB culling, can be challenged with confidence." Read in full

July 14th 2010 ~ TB in alpacas - "we need to change the way we do things - sharpish"

The tbinalpacas.blogspot.com carries practical advice from the British Veterinary Camelid Society vet, Dr Gina Bromage. Extract:
".....The skin test fails to detect the vast majority of TB infected camelids - so it goes without saying the risk of TB is very much on all of our minds but it isn't only TB we need to consider- its any disease that can be contracted by coming into contact with other alpacas/llamas e.g. Bvd, mange, mites, gastro intestinal parasites in particular E-Mac - diseases that can kill - so we need to change the way we do things - sharpish and one of those is mating - the other is buying..."
Read posting in full

July 14th 2010 ~ BVA says - " important to note that the decision is based on the way the Welsh Assembly Government came to its decision and not on the scientific evidence."

The British Veterinary Association's press release is worth reading in full. Extract:
"....the veterinary profession maintains that we need all available tools to tackle the spread of TB in both cattle and wildlife.. " (Bill Reilly)
Read press release.

July 13th 2010 ~ The Welsh Badger cull order has been quashed by the Court of Appeal.

The Badger Trust's appeal against plans to trap and shoot badgers in West Wales has been upheld by the three law lords in Cardiff's High Court today. Lord Justice Pill said the Welsh Assembly was wrong to make an order for the whole of Wales when it had consulted on the basis of a Intensive Action Pilot Area (IAPA), which only supported a cull on evidence within the IAPA. The articles to read so far are: Press Association and Farmers Guardian "Badger cull decision 'bitterly disappointing' - NFU" and Farmers Weekly
The Farmers' Union of Wales have called it a "bitterly disappointing outcome".
"Farmers are doing their bit to control this disease, yet the court has decided that the most significant obstacle to controlling this disease, namely an highly infected badger population, cannot be addressed until further consideration of the facts is undertaken by the Assembly's Rural Affairs Minister.
Farmers throughout Wales, from Anglesey down to Monmouthshire, have been doing their bit to combat bTB for decades, and are now subject to more movement restrictions and bTB testing than ever before, all at huge expense."
Meanwhile, a farmer writes on the FWi forum: "... Having just gone clear after 2 years l fully expect to go down again this autumn. We have picked up several dead badgers on this farm, thin with very long claws, they died of something, and it was not us helping them on their way. Fencing the cattle away from the badgers is not viable, as they are everywhere, using the same water sources to drink, the same pasture to find feed..." (See FWi forum comments)

July 7th 2010 ~ "It's time our film was circulated..."

A recent letter to the sponsors of "Bovine TB - A Way Forward" expressed a certain disappointment at the way the DVD seemed not to have come to the attention of people who could well have been moved and impressed by it. As the letter (pdf here) said, the lack of progress was largely as a result of pleas from the proponents of the VLA9 Project (ie the project set up in Devon and North Cornwall in 2008, covering an area where that particular bTb spoligotype is found) that the film would scupper the chance of its success. Chris Chapman added, "I have said it a thousand times and I will say it again:
The reason for making our film was to educate the public on the tragedy of this disease and to try to bridge the gap between the farming industry, wildlife groups and a largely ill-informed public....the simple fact is that Bryan Hill's strategy works and there are many out there who will give testimony to this... "
Read the letter in full. Since its circulation in the past fortnight, we understand that there have been many more enquiries. (The 25 minute film can be purchased for £4.99, which includes postage and packing. It is available through Chris Chapman's website at www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk. The squeamish need feel no reluctance to watch it. We found it to dwell - not on recrimination or sadness - but on positive steps that can be taken. And it is beautifully filmed and edited.)

July 2nd 2010 ~ Dropped Trials: "Our initial costs were about £1.1m for a whole area. By the time we finished it was £2.2m for half an area"

The Farmers Guardian suggests that the badger vaccination project was "doomed all along" because, according to an anonymous contractor, the costs of the project had spiralled out of control after having been pushed up by the 'red tape and bureaucracy' attached to the operation, such as limiting the time they could operate to three hours each day and requiring at least two visits to trap sites. The contractor quoted said the process had cost his small business around £10,000 so far - money which will now not be recouped. "It makes you think twice about doing anything else." Read in full

July 1st 2010 ~ "We will set out our proposals in due course, including the estimated costs." Jim Paice

The exchange yesterday in Parliament on the subject of what the present government intends to do about the control of bTB infected badgers can be read from Hansard here. Among other things, Mr Paice said that DEFRA-funded expenditure on bovine tuberculosis in England had been £63 million last year. He added that the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (BVDP) was reviewed (see immediately below) "in order to help maintain capacity at the Food and Environment Research Agency to train lay vaccinators." (How reluctant politicians are to explain that in the present financial crisis, some plans just cost too much and are being ditched.)

June 24th 2010 ~ Vaccination trials now reduced to only one

Farmers Weekly reports that the trial in Stroud, Gloucestershire, will begin next month and continnue over a five year period.
"A second area in Gloucestershire will only now be used for sett survey work while the remaining areas - two in Devon, one in Staffordshire and one in Herefordshire/Worcestershire have been scrapped."
Read article

June 21st 2010 ~ The apparently healthy little alpaca - but he had TB lesions all through his organs

We have just been sent two short video clips the Camelid TB Support Group, via Dianne Summers. She writes:
"The purpose of this video is not to break your heart (and it will) but to show you how perfectly healthy an alpaca can look and yet be riddled with TB having PASSED a skin test. The first clip was taken an hour before he was put down. He was in his pen - alone waiting to be culled. He wasn't showing any signs of ANY illness, let alone TB. He had passed the skin test twice but failed the blood test. No outward signs at all.
This wee alpaca was culled one hour after the footage was taken.... had TB lesions throughout his entire organs. Sadly, for those of us that are in the TB Support group - who have culled reactors to the blood tests - this is an all too familiar sight, but for others - it should open your eyes to the silent killer known as TB..."
She emphasises that you cannot rely on the skin test alone to detect TB infected alpacas It is
"..the reason why we cannot trade with any confidence if we come out of restriction having only used the skin test and supports both my advice and that of BVCS vet, Gina Bromage, not to consider selling - showing - moving alpacas around for a minimum of one year maybe two - maybe longer - on the back of a negative skin test."
She concludes that she is grateful to " the kind member of the TB Support Group who sent me these clips. The reason is simple - it is to educate others."
(Please email warmwell.com for copies of the video clips and Dianne's message in full. Camelid owners may want to visit the highly recommended tbinalpacas.blogspot.com/ for its most recent posting on shearing at a time of TB threat. )
(UPDATE The videos referred to can now be seen at the Bovine TB Blogspot)

June 11th 2010 ~ The badger cull in Wales will be delayed. The Court of Appeal has agreed to an expedited hearing on 30 June

The Farmers Guardian reports that the Welsh Assembly Government has taken a decision to suspend the start of its planned West Wales badger cull until the outcome is known on the Badger Trust initiated High Court appeal. See also Farmers Weekly:
"The Welsh Assembly Government had initially said that it would press ahead with a cull despite the successful lodging of an appeal by lawyers working for the Badger Trust. Rural affairs minister Elin Jones said that its initial decision to go ahead had been made because the appeal was not listed for hearing until between November 2010 and February 2011. "But it has emerged that the Court of Appeal has agreed to an expedited hearing on 30 June," said Miss Jones..."
(One correspondent to the FG laconically asks: "When will the cow cull be suspended?")

June 4th 2010 ~ "The randomised badger culling trial has for years wrongly been used to justify a policy of inaction." Sarah Wollaston MP

The new MP for Totnes, who is also a practising GP, made her maiden speech on Wednesday. It included comments about her support for Transition Towns and for ridding the NHS of top-down bureaucracy. Like so many, she would like to see power handed back to those on the front line. On bovine TB she was very clear:
"We are fast losing our sustainability as more and more dairy farms in particular go out of business because of the problems of bovine tuberculosis. Devon is, in fact, at the very heart of the bovine TB epidemic. As a doctor, I have to tell Members that we cannot treat infected badgers by vaccination. Vaccination can only hope to prevent the disease in unaffected individuals. I have been teaching junior doctors evidence-based medicine for 11 years, and I can say that one of the problems we face is that the randomised badger culling trial has for years wrongly been used to justify a policy of inaction. Unless we do something about bovine TB, more and more of our farmers will go out of business. We need to recognise the effect on them and their families, and the very real distress bovine TB causes them."
(Read speech Hansard)

May 21st 2010 ~ Farming Today - Listen again to James Paice this morning

The 10 minute clip will be available on iplayer (radio) for 7 days. The BBC says, "A cull of badgers in England has been announced by the new coalition Government to help reduce the spread of TB in cattle which has cost the taxpayer £100million a year. Welcomed by farmers' groups and opposed by wildlife organisations Charlotte Smith speaks to Farming Minister Jim Paice about the plans, hears reaction to the news and speaks to scientists who say it could actually make the situation worse. "

May 20th 2010 ~ James Paice announced an eventual badger cull in the West Country

Jim Paice seems to have confirmed at the Devon County Show today that Devon and Cornwall will get a badger cull as soon as possible. Although the BBC report is rather thin on detail, Mr Paice's actual words were:
"We are working on how we pull the science together and how we make sure that it is properly co-ordinated. We've got to find the right locations to identify the hot spot areas. We've got to work out who is going to do the culling and how it's going to be co-ordinated."

May 20th 2010 ~ Plans for an emergency cull of badgers in hotspots of bovine TB are to be put on hold while Caroline Spelman "reviews the scientific evidence"

Although the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats supported an emergency cull of badgers during the election campaign and (see below) Jim Paice had said to the Farmers Guardian: "We would hopefully get on with it almost immediately. We cannot go on with the absurd situation where we are killing more and more cattle every year and getting nowhere", we now read in today's Times: ".....Ministers will also await the outcome of a pilot cull in West Wales before embarking on such a policy in England......... The Conservatives have always seen vaccination as the eventual breakthrough to control the disease, although before the election Jim Paice, the Agriculture Minister, met officials at the Porton Down research establishment to see if it is possible to test badger setts for infection before any animals are killed." (See also Meat trade news Daily "..The two parties now have the opportunity to nail their true colours to the mast and show they are prepared to influence and drive change to current TB policy within government. We urge that discussions are initiated immediately in order to prevent any further spread of this insidious disease...")

May 14th 2010 ~ in the run up to the election was a Tory commitment to implement a badger cull in England.

James Paice, the new DEFRA Minister, who still keeps cattle, is quoted in the Farmers Guardian today: "We would hopefully get on with it almost immediately. We cannot go on with the absurd situation where we are killing more and more cattle every year and getting nowhere."

May 12th 2010 ~ Camelids : "a very important announcement on the camelid gamma interferon validation project".

An email from Dianne Summers yesterday explained pleased she was to be able to announce that her name and that of the TB Support Group are now added onto the AnimalHealth/DEFRA letter of consent to test. This is the document given to new herds that have the misfortune to come down to TB and one that they must sign when they agree to test. She says, " I am thankful to AH/DEFRA for this and proves not only that we are working together but also they recognise the TB Support Group as invaluable help for fellow camelid sufferers."
Today Dianne Summers has placed two very important updates on the TB in alpacas blog. Go to www.tbinalpacas.blogspot.com She says,
"The first is an update on the latest figures; the second is a very important announcement on the camelid gamma interferon validation project. It is easier for me to put updates on the Tb blog rather than send out over a 150 emails - I am sure you can all appreciate that. The owners of the blog have kindly agreed to post any updates I give them. The other benefit of my updates going on the blog is the information is made available to everyone not just those in the TB update Group. You can also place comments below a particular post if you wish to give an opinion...."

May 3rd 2010 ~ A new TB Blog for alpaca owners

Dianne Summers writes, "....What I like about this blog is that it welcomes and supports not only people wanting to know more about TB but encourages people like myself and my fellow alpaca owners that are in the Tb Support Group under restriction to also contribute.."
See email or go straight to the new website www.tbinalpacas.blogspot.com.

April 30th/May 1st 2010 ~ " We must all hope that the Welsh trial will produce evidence that makes similar action inevitable in the rest of the UK."

A Wiltshire farmer writes, "This is the most significant quote in the BVA statement (here) about the threat of bluetongue from imports:
"We understand that farmers are desperate to replace culled TB reactors in cattle herds".
By failing to control one disease we are laying ourselves open to another. We must all hope that the Welsh trial to control TB in wildlife as well as in the cattle population will produce evidence that makes similar action inevitable in the rest of the UK"

April 30th 2010 ~ Strict additional cattle measures to accompany badger culling in Welsh trial

The Farmers Guardian reports that the new cattle control measures beginning on Saturday (May 1) are to include the testing of herds every six months.
"...All breakdowns, whether or not 'confirmed' by post-mortem, will require a clear test 60 days after a positive test, followed by a further clear test after a further 60 days, before official TB free status is regained and movement restrictions can be removed.
Breakdowns will also be subject to tracing which will generate additional testing for associated cattle herds.
There will also be restrictions on cattle movements within and outside the area.
All British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) linkages and Sole Occupancy Authorities (SOAs) between holdings inside and outside the pilot area are being cancelled, requiring farmers to report all movements to BCMS and comply with pre-movement testing requirements...."
See also Farmers Weekly "Wales has not ruled out the possibility of using the vaccine to protect clean populations of badgers."

April 25th 2010 ~ Camelids "Defra have recently pulled the financial rug on one promising supplementary blood test."

The Bovine TB Blogspot has two important postings on biosecurity for camelids.
"....We have given alpacas a considerable airing on this site, as unfortunately for them, they are particularly susceptible to tuberculosis..have the ability to become infectious very quickly, to spread the disease between themselves and the potential to transmit to TB to their owners or other mammals.
Unfortunately, even squeezed down to practically zero, the intradermal skin test is not a good indicator of TB exposure in alpacas, and Defra have recently pulled the financial rug on one promising supplementary blood test. The reason given for this was ''lack of funding'. But the cynical amongst us would point out that the "don't look, won't find" culture thrives in the upper echelons of Defra. Particularly as we understand that the BAS has offered to underwrite the costs of validating blood tests on behalf of their members...."
Read in full

April 25th 2010 ~ bTB not a "negligible public health problem in the UK, providing milk is pasteurized"?

In the interests of trying to look at this difficult issue from all sides, our attention has been brought to a recent article in Trends in Microbiology by Paul and David Torgerson (cited by Wikipedia's page on the subject of Mycobacterium bovis), which argues that from the point of view only of human health, "there is little evidence either for a positive cost benefit in terms of animal health of bTB control" and that there is "little justification for the large sums of money spent on bTB control in the UK." More on this from www.bovinetb.co.uk

April 22nd 2010 ~ "...the success of the programme to date is a credit to the agricultural industry and to those people dedicated to eradicating TB from New Zealand."

See Scoop.co.nz for a report on how successful New Zealand is in controlling TB. Extract: "...The pest control operations being undertaken by the AHB in 2010 are designed to stop the transfer of infection between possums and cattle....Last month's figures indicate that possum and other pest control operations are working. Yet there is still someway to go before we can claim to be free from TB. ...as it stands, infected wild animals inhabit an estimated 38 per cent of New Zealand's land mass..."

April 22nd 2010 ~ "Proposals allowing English farmers to cull infected badgers will be placed before the next DEFRA secretary, whichever political party wins power in the general election on 6 May."

Farmers Weekly "Farmers in England have been unable to obtain badger removal licences since DEFRA secretary Hilary Benn refused to sanction a badger cull last year. But farm leaders believe there is no reason for the ban to remain in place.."

April 16th 2010 ~ The High Court has ruled that the Welsh badger cull may go ahead

(See also below) The High Court has rejected claims from the Badger Trust that the proposed cull has no scientific basis and is not a suitable way to eradicate the disease.
The cull can now begin in the next few months . The trial is due to take place in north Pembrokeshire, and a small part of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. See Farmers Guardian and the BBC.
The British Veterinary Association press release (extract)
"Veterinary associations have welcomed the High Court ruling that the Welsh Assembly Government's decision to implement a targeted badger cull to tackle bovine tuberculosis is lawful following a Judicial Review called by the Badger Trust."
Professor Bill Reilly, President of the British Veterinary Association, is quoted
"The BVA and BCVA welcome the outcome of the Judicial Review ...This is a highly emotive issue and we understand that many people will be disappointed with the decision, but it is essential that a wide range of measures are employed to tackle this devastating disease and we believe that should include a targeted cull of badgers.."

April 15th 2010 ~ Protecting against the incursion of TB at Shows

Dianne Summers of the TB Support Group (camelids) has kindly sent us this pdf file on Biosecurity issued by the British Alpaca Society to help those who intend to show their animals.

April 15th 2010 ~ The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers appeals to candidates

The Farmers Weekly quotes the chairman of RABDF, David Cotton, who predicts that TB slaughterings could increase to over 21,000 head, more than 1% of the entire dairy herd.
"....There is also the knock on effect of lost lifetime performance, as well as herd genetics. These losses are undoubtedly reducing the number of replacements available, and equally alarming, they are making a significant contribution to the increase in imports.."
He says that the Association is aware of the importance of the rural vote in this election and they "..look forward to the next Government reviewing current policy and implementing one that will prove both efficient and cost effective by controlling and eradicating TB."

April 10th 2010 ~ " If bovine TB was only present in cattle, we could eradicate it by testing alone. But because it is also present in badgers in areas such as west Wales, testing is not enough."

Serious and informed opinion from a practising vet, Paul Rodgers, in an interview with the Western Telegraph He is very clear about the efficacy of testing and about what present vaccines can and cannot do.
"...The present crisis is such that we do not have time for a vaccination policy in infected areas to work. When a practical oral vaccine is developed, it may be possible to keep uninfected badgers healthy, but that is still years away.
I look forward to a time when I will not have to tell another farmer that his best cow has to be killed and when many thousands of badgers no longer die a slow, unpleasant death due to TB."
Read in full

April 8th 2010 ~ "no licences will be issued for culling badgers for the purpose of preventing the spread of bTB in cattle"

When asked yesterday whether he planned to take steps to (a) eliminate and (b) reduce the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in wildlife Jim Fitzpatrick told the House of Commons (Hansard): "The key issue with bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in wildlife is when the disease is transmitted to livestock." Although he admitted that ".... Vaccination is not 100 per cent. effective in terms of protection, he then went on to say that the Government's policy is that "no licences will be issued for culling badgers for the purpose of preventing the spread of bTB in cattle, although we remain open to the possibility of revisiting this policy under exceptional circumstances, or if new scientific evidence were to become available."

April 7th 2010 ~ DEFRA will pay just over £630,000 to fund research into "farmer confidence" in bTB badger vaccination

What is described as a "major social science study" is to accompany the Government's Bovine TB Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (or "BVDP" as it will be known by its inevitable acronym), We read at www.farminguk.comthat the 'research' will be carried out in collaboration with Exeter and Cardiff Universities, Drew Associates Limited, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera)
"The social science study has been funded for four years in the first instance and will assess the level of farmer confidence in the use of vaccination before, during and after vaccine deployment. It will also identify motivators and barriers that could influence the future use of TB vaccines..."
There were no comments under the article when we looked at it. (Could words be failing those who read it?)

April 2nd 2010 ~ "No stress then"

The latest from the bovinetb.blogspot.com comments that what seems like a slight reduction in slaughter and new herd incidents in DEFRA's 2009 TB statistics needs to be considered in the light of the dwindling number of cattle herds. The number of herds affected taken as a percentage of this is actually up. Cattle herds in the East show an increase of 35% in herds affected by TB during 2009, while the North (including Staffs, Derby and Cheshire) recorded a 53% increase in herd restrictions. As for the practicalities of vaccinating badgers in the hot spots:
"......Cage trapping badgers already endemically infected with tuberculosis? Holding a wild animal for hours in this cage? Large man appears to turn cage on its end, and stick toasting fork across the bars to secure the not-too-happy occupant, nose down, bum up in said cage? Jabbing them with a (very) long hyperdermic? Applying splodge of paint (not lead based) to identify a once-vaccinated badger? And then releasing it? Repeating this annually? No stress then".
Ken Wignall's splendid cartoon, gratefully reproduced on the Blog, wryly emphasises how the difficulties of badger vaccination can so easily be underestimated.

March 30th 2010 ~ Vaccine for use in badgers has been approved by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).

As the Farmers Guardian says today, "Authorisation for the BadgerBCG vaccine was officially granted last week, paving the way for vaccination to begin in six bovine TB (bTB) hotspot areas of England this summer. The vaccine used in badgers will be identical to the BCG vaccine widely used in humans and will be manufactured by the Statens Serum Institute, in Copengagen, which produces vast quantities of the human vaccine." Read in full

March 25th 2010 ~ Waiting for the High Court judge's decision

On 22nd and 23rd March Mr Justice Lloyd Jones heard arguments from representatives of both the Welsh Assembly and the Badger Trust. He is expected to make a judgement in the next two weeks. The 5 culls proposed for a pilot area of about 178 square miles will start at the end of April or early May when the badgers have finished breeding.
Today the Farmers Guardian reports that Jim Fitzpatrick has said the outcome of the Judicial Review about Wales will make no difference to England's policy:
"We made our decision before Wales did. We have invested millions to support vaccination. The outcome of the Welsh court case won't affect us at all, other than being of great interest"
Read in full and see also the report in www.dailypost.co.uk

March 24th 2010 ~ Today is World Tuberculosis day...

What we are seeing in the UK however is an increasingly furious divide between those who support the Welsh plan for a limited cull of badgers in hotspots and those who cannot understand any need for it at all. On one side there is the Badger Trust, or individuals such as Brian May of the group 'Queen' for example, who express outrage at the idea that badgers should be culled at all (Mr May calls it "genocide" and his account of the first day of the Swansea judicial review can be read here.)
On the other side are those who, as we say below, are the ones who have suffered from the restrictions on and slaughter of their animals and astonished by the anger they hear in the media. Dr Ruth Watkins is not only an expert in disease pathogens but also a practical farmer who cares deeply and conscientiously for both the livestock and the wildlife on her farm. She says that she
" ..used to believe that there was insufficient evidence about 5 years ago to justify the killing of badgers which seemed like part of the inane response of DEFRA, Kill Kill Kill as they so horribly responded to the FMD epidemic in doing, when of course there was a highly effective vaccine ready for use. I have changed my mind about badgers now..."
It is painful to contemplate the killing of badgers. The alternative, until vaccine can be effectively given, is to watch the slaughter of thousands more cows, bulls and alpacas, to know that infected badgers are enduring a slow, miserable and painful end, and to see the threat to other mammals, including Man, increasing.

March 22nd 2010 ~ The Badger Trust's legal challenge at Swansea High Court today

The Badger Trust is challenging the legality of the TB Eradication (Wales) Order 2009 of the Welsh Assembly Government in which a cull of trapped badgers will take place over 288 sq km in the "hot spots" of south Ceredigion, north Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. All culled badgers will have post- mortems and each cattle TB incident will be investigated. Of the 1,500 landowners in the area consulted, seven refused a visit and just over 20 opposed the cull. The pilot area has natural geographical barriers, such as the sea, rivers and the Preseli Hills, so perturbation will be reducd.
Although the Assembly Government sanctioned the cull after an ecological survey showed it was "compatible with the relevant environmental legislation", the Badger Trust is making a separate formal complaint under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. The judicial review is listed for a two day oral hearing, which will take place today and tomorrow, before Mr Justice Lloyd-Jones. See also Western Telegraph

March 22nd 2010 ~ "The animals culled appeared very healthy, had no visible signs of bTB, no lesions and the tissue culture was negative"

The author of the website, www.bovinetb.co.uk, who began studying the subject in depth after their herd breakdown (a non commercial, closed herd, kept for conservation grazing only) "The animals culled appeared very healthy, had no visible signs of bTB, no lesions and the tissue culture was negative":
"....a lonely business as so few seem to care and it is very time consuming trying to achieve much with limited spare time. I am not a scientist but I do have many years' experience of caring for livestock and a good deal of commonsense. If you could mention our website on your site or any of the information on it this would be very useful."
www.bovinetb.co.uk

March 18th 2010 ~ Now, sheep and wild boar on Gloucestershire have bovine TB

As Alistair Driver in the Farmers Guardian says, "Concerns that bTB is becoming increasingly prevalent in species other than cattle and badgers have been heightened by the discovery of the disease in sheep and wild boar. It has emerged that a flock of Lleyn sheep in Gloucestershire has been placed under TB restriction."
Vets noticed chronic weight loss in 20 of 220 ewes and one ram, and in three of the six sheep the local strain of M. bovis, spoligotype 10, was found at postmortem. Lesions in these three sheep were "extensive" as a letter in the Veterinary Record reports. Over 140 bTB cases in individual animals other than cattle were identified in 2009 according to DEFRA but, as the FG says, the true numbers are almost certainly much higher. Read in full

March 16th 2010 ~ Cutaneous TB caused by M bovis in a veterinary surgeon following contact with a TB-infected alpaca in southwest England.

An article(pdf file, link working but slow) in the Veterinary Record (2010) 166, 175-177 describes (complete with very graphic photograph) the case of a 25 year old vet, vaccinated against BCG and wearing surgical gloves at the time of post-mortem, who contracted TB after euthanising an infected alpaca.
"...she had not worn gloves when euthanasing the cria and her hands had accidentally been contaminated with blood at the time of venepuncture. Six weeks after the postmortem examination, she noticed a tingling sensation in the tip of her right thumb, but no lesion was visible at that time. After a further three weeks, a painful, circular, pale lesion approximately 4 mm in diameter developed at the site....
..there is still a risk of infection for people whose occupation involves close contact with tuberculous animals.. Extensive pulmonary pathology is a common feature of M bovis-infected South American camelids... Aerosol transmission is therefore a possible route of infection for animal handlers.." (See article)
As Dianne Summers (to whom many thanks for passing on the article) remarks, "It is a perfect example of why TB is a zoonosis disease and notifiable," adding that those whose camelid herds are under restriction to TB should take necessary measures to protect family, staff and shearer.

March 12th 2010 ~ The US welcomes a portable, rapid TB sensor. Will the UK?

What is described in Scientific American this week is a "field friendly" device that relies on readily available and relatively low-cost components and can find the lethal pathogen in blood in just 20 minutes.
The article quotes Kathy Orloski (pdf), a veterinary epidemiologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Tuberculosis Eradication Program in Fort Collins, Colo, who says the country's cattle industry would welcome a rapid test for bovine TB.
"Cows currently are screened for the disease with skin tests like those used in people, a process that requires animals to be handled twice in three days, driving up costs for ranchers. Dairy or beef cattle infected with TB are euthanized. Government inspectors at slaughterhouses would likewise benefit from an immediate on-site detection method, helping them identify carcasses of infected cows faster than current laboratory testing, which takes up to 48 hours to process tissue samples."
Will the UK likewise welcome this inexpensive rapid diagnosis kit the size of a shoebox - or will it remain as blind and deaf to such technology as it has been with the rapid diagnostics for FMD that, tragically, were available in 2001 but ignored? At the time of the 2007 outbreak there was a US PCR test sophisticated enough to detect foot and mouth infected animals 2 or 3 days before they showed any outward signs of disease and before virus could be identified by any other means - but once again, it was ignored.
Since 2004, Dr Roger Breeze has been advising the US Defense Department on the biological weapons program and its scientists in the old Soviet Union as the Chief Scientist for Biological Weapons control - his operation is now expanding to include Afghanistan, Pakistan and East Africa - then southeast Asia. An expert on pathogen detection and control, at the time of the FMD outbreak in 2007 he wrote
"...British veterinary authorities and the government's Chief Scientist, David King, have known about this technology since 2001 - they were told in advance long before the paper was published so they could get a head start on adding this to Britain's list of foot and mouth counter-measures.
As a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons of almost 40 years, I am astounded and baffled as to why the government is allowed to continue to practise obsolete veterinary medicine that is clearly contrary to the welfare of animals that the government has decided shall be solely in its care..." Read in full
Given the political disaster that bTB now is in this country, perhaps DEFRA will at last look a little further afield for help.

March 10th 2010 ~ Latest from the Bovine TB Blogspot "This is what TB does.."

The posting looks at what it calls the "blindingly naive and misleading statement by the Badger Trust, issued last week and criticising farmers for pointing out the effect tuberculosis has on badgers." The TB Blogspot posting contains images of diseased badgers that, it says, "should" (sic) cause distress
"....how about this for 'scientific evidence'. An emaciated badger, drowning in the fluids issuing from a massive tuberculous pleurisy. This can occur when a lung abscess bursts and affects the surrounding membranes. Pleurisy is extremely painful, and this animal would certainly have shown respiratory distress before death.
That's what tuberculosis does."
As the Farmers Guardian reported last week, when Jim Fitzpatrick finally admitted recently that he had not before recognised "the pain and suffering being inflicted on the badger population", adding it was "almost" as much an issue for their welfare and survival as it is for dairy herds, the Badger Trust reacted with scorn, calling descriptions of badger suffering "emotional propaganda" and "scaremongering".
This website has carried photographs of the grim state of diseased badgers for the past four years. It is extraordinary that the Badger Trust continues to deny the suffering that infected badgers endure.

March 10th 2010 ~ Rob Rawlings at Wellground Alpacas on badger fencing

Many thanks to Rob and to Dianne Summers for this note about fencing against badgers. Extract:
"... badger netting is actually very expensive indeed. The best product available is actually made in the UK by Tornado fencing in Cumbria. Currently the best price we could find is @ £150 + VAT per roll covering just 50m each roll. That is also the cheapest we have been quoted for, so that is what we are installing.
The process involves digging a trench 450mm deep by 200mm wide. The fencing is then buried vertically 450 mm down with a horizontal pitch 200mm away from the property being protected. This is very labour intensive (even with a 360 digger), and therefore slows down the whole installation work and costs extra money.
On a physical point, it's the weight of the wire netting that is the biggest problem, each roll weighs 90 kilos. That takes some carrying, it's also hi-tensile and wants to roll its self back up like a huge spring. When a 90 kilo roll of metal comes zinging at you rolling its self up, be prepared to run, it's gonna really hurt if it hits you. However once installed, I defy any badger to get through it.."
Read in full

February 27th 2010 ~ "I rather think that Mr Fitzpatrick didn't seem to understand my point," Ken Proctor, former president of the Holstein Cattle Society

A story in www.edp24.co.uk is about the Norfolk farmer, Mr Proctor, who bought three cows from a dispersal sale in a four-year testing parish. Being six months into a four-year bTB testing cycle himself, he had the new cows privately tested. If he had not, the infected animals could have mixed with his herd and infected them without anyone knowing for perhaps as many as 7 years. Mr Proctor expressed his concern at the lengthy delay in tracing other animals bought at the sale:
"The speed at which cases are tackled is horrendous. What really irritates me is that they still hadn't followed up the farm where the cows had been, and we didn't get a letter until about three weeks ago. They had waited four months before sending out tracing letters."
Thanks to the efforts of Mid-Norfolk MP Keith Simpson, Mr Proctor was able to tell Jim Fitzpatrick about the implications to the family's business, "I rather think that Mr Fitzpatrick didn't seem to understand my point," he said. (read in full.)

February 26th 2010 ~"The scientists hope their research will lead to vaccines to prevent bovine tuberculosis, as well as tools to provide more accurate, faster diagnoses in the field"

Media Newswire quotes Ofelia Barletta-Chacon, a physician and microbiologist with more than 20 years of experience with tuberculosis, who's conducting research with her husband, Raul Barletta, a microbiologist with more than 25 years of experience with mycobacteria. They are hoping to develop approaches in vaccination, diagnosis and treatment that could be adapted to all mycobacterial diseases, whether they strike human beings or animals.
"Bovine tuberculosis can be devastating economically, as its discovery in an animal requires its destruction and, potentially, culling of other animals....Inaccurate results are not unusual with current tests. A false positive bovine tuberculosis test, even if later overturned by more extensive testing, can do great economic damage."
Read in full

February 26th 2010 ~ bTB in New Zealand - drop in infection rates for 15th consecutive year

Scoop.co.nz quotes Dr Paul Livingstone, Technical Manager for the Animal Health Board (AHB):
"... The AHB is very proud to deliver some direct benefits to some of the 75,000 cattle and deer herds registered with the organisation. We have achieved this through proactive possum control, TB testing and stock movement monitoring....Farmers' support for the eradication of TB is a key ingredient to the successful implementation of the National Bovine Tuberculosis Pest Management Strategy.."
Developments in New Zealand's research ( see www.landcareresearch.co.nz ) include delivering vaccination through new baits as well as reduced reliance on poisons.

February 25 2010 ~ Does the Minister share my concern and understand the anger of many dairy farmers throughout the land who have seen their herds decimated?

In yesterday's debate, Lord Plumb was speaking from a lifetime's experience and sympathy for fellow farmers when he said to Lord Davies of Oldham, DEFRA's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State:
" Forty thousand cattle with TB were lost or slaughtered last year; I think it was 41,000 the year before. And so it goes on. And so it will go on this year. Some of those animals and herds have been totally decimated. One can therefore understand the reaction. What is the cost to the taxpayer of dealing with the problem? Furthermore, what is the cost to the nation of the loss of production of both milk and dairy products that could be produced in this country, when we are in fact importing millions of litres of milk which would be totally unnecessary if only this disease could be got under control?"
Unfortunately, all Lord Davies of Oldham seemed able to say was that the Government were "greatly concerned" adding that there was "no clear evidence that the culling of badgers will solve the problem." After mentioning the vaccination experiment he said that the Welsh study would be carefully watched and that "We are of course open to persuasion that progress could be made along those lines."
It is to be hoped that the government is fully aware of the new bTB test developed in the US and will follow America in making all speed to have such a test licensed for the UK.

February 24th 2010 ~ New bTB test developed in the US

(Read in full at veterinarynews.dvm360.com) "Dr. William Davis, a professor in the Washington State University (WSU) Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, developed a new test for bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The test can detect up to 25 antigens at once and could one day replace current skin and gamma interferon tissue culture tests, WSU says. The new test can make early diagnosis of the disease, for which there is no effective treatment, easier it reportedly detects bTB quicker and more accurately than previous tests."
See also wsunews.wsu.edu which quotes Dr Davis
"Our test can provide results in a matter of hours rather than days with current methods. It also has increased specificity and is highly sensitive, so there are fewer false positives. Bovine TB is a worldwide problem and it can be in a dairy or cattle herd a long time before an animal has symptoms. It can then spread to the rest of the herd. And if it is in animals, it can transfer to people."
An effort is being made to license this new test in the U.S

February 24th 2010 ~ At least 30 camelid herds are now under restriction

We are grateful to Dianne Summers for her update on the situation for owners of alpacas and llamas who are in contact with her. As of 31st Dec 2009 DEFRA confirmed 22 herds are under restriction. A further 8 herds since Jan 1st have come forward to the Tb support Group who have lost their first to Tb since Jan 1st 2010. Therefore a minimum of 30 herds are currently under restriction.
This time last year only 8 herds were under restriction.
Camelids are, as we say below, highly susceptible to bTB, and - it seems - become as infectious as badgers very quickly. Unlike badgers, however, they die quickly. The spread of the bacterium between herds during mating, or at shows, means that cross infection between other species, particularly human contacts, is a risk too serious to ignore. (More)

February 23rd 2010 ~ NFU conference. bTB top of the agenda

Peter Kendall warned politicians that TB would influence how rural communities vote in the general election. He warned how the spiralling costs of the disease are threatening to destroy the livelihoods of livestock and dairy farmers.
Hilary Benn, however, stands by his refusal to allow a badger cull on the strength of what he called a "scientific study on the efficacy of culling" - presumably the recent Imperial report that is based on the flawed Krebs trial see below and written not by veterinary experts but by epidemiologists. Mr Benn claimed that "the way out of this nightmare" is the injectable vaccine for badgers would be available in the summer and an oral vaccination that is "being developed". For a discussion about the limitations of present vaccines, see below.
Nick Herbert was applauded when he told the conference that a Conservative government would introduce a carefully-managed control of badgers in high TB areas and that
"We can no longer stand by while bovine TB claims 40,000 cattle a year, costs £80 million a year, and destroys livelihoods every year
The Birmingham Post reports on the conference today.

February 17th 2010 ~ The Way Forward - Don't miss this 25 minute film

Chris Chapman's film is highly watchable. It discusses bovine TB with the help of farmers, vets and experts such as Dr. John Gallagher, a former government vet. With quiet understatement it explores the devastating effects of bTB on animals and people. It has avoided the pitfalls that one might expect of a film on a subject that is so urgent, so heartbreaking and such a political hot potato.
There is no need to avoid the film for fear that the tragedy of the situation will be dwelt on for effect - one is relieved by the gentleness of this film. Those who view the problem of Bovine TB as contentious and insurmountable may find cause for encouragement. People who dread the prospect of mass badger culling may be cheered by the film's declaration that healthy badgers need to be looked after. And as Chris says,
"I've purposely steered clear of the politics surrounding the issue, and I'm hoping the film will ignite fresh debate and have all parties agreeing to at least give it a try"
The 25 minute film can be purchased for the modest sum of £4.99, which includes postage and packing, and is available through Chris Chapman's website at www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk (link mended)

February 17th 2010 ~ No easy answers are offered in "The Way Forward", and the present problems associated with vaccination are not dodged.

Anthony Gibson, whose experience and decency have earned him widespread respect, spells out the vaccination predicament:
" ..it's got to be used as far as possible on healthy badgers so that you are protecting healthy badgers not concealing infection in sick badgers - which is the big danger. So yes, use vaccination but it's got to be used in parallel with a policy aimed at culling infected badgers, protecting through vaccination healthy badgers. Then you can see an end to this problem. At the moment there is no end in sight. "
The problem has always been to differentiate "clean" setts containing uninfected badgers from "problem setts" containing infected badgers. Richard Gard, the writer and researcher on animal and human health, evidently has high hopes of Bryan Hill's strategy, shown briefly in the film, of assessing healthy and infected setts. By being aware of the state of each sett, Mr Hill has 'managed' his own badgers and those of 32 adjoining farms for 11 years now - and test results have all been clear. A countryman and farmer, he has developed tracking skills that have been described as phenomenal. He is able, for example, to distinguish well used trails and markers from the tracks of a single exiled badger. In the absence of the PCR methods we have hoped to see widely used since Warwick's research in 2006, Mr Hill's strategy would seem to offer a genuine "Way Forward" and could prevent the sort of widespread mass extermination that we all want to see avoided.

February 16th 2010 ~ "What we all want is healthy cattle and healthy badgers."

"The Way Forward", Chris Chapman's gem of a DVD on the subject of bovine TB, begins sombrely with a farmer contemplating a group of home-bred cows standing peacefully in the sunshine. Many of these beautiful and contented-looking animals, including the bull, are condemned. "There is no way I can get back to these blood lines again." A small farmer who loves his work and his animals, he turns away with no words as the lorry carrying them away passes from sight up the Devonshire lane.
Anthony Gibson explains in the film how a change in policy meant that TB eradication failed just as it was about to succeed. A farmer's wife talks about the infected badger, shunned by the sett, whose body she found soon after it had suffered what was evidently a slow and painful death. She is as sorry for the badgers as she is for the cattle - but this is a problem that threatens the cows and deeply affects everyone on the farm. The farmer says simply, "Most problems on this farm I can solve one way or another - but this problem I can't solve..."
(The DVD, which arrived in the post today, was well worth waiting for and I am watching it now. More reaction to it tomorrow but I am hoping already that "The Way Forward" will be shown on television very soon.)

February 16th 2010 ~ "I have never met anybody with the ability to look at a sett and state that there are diseased animals in it.."

Paul Caruana, an ex-Defra Field Manager from the Polwhere Wildlife Unit, writes today:
"... Having worked on Government badger control policies since 1994, together with other individuals with literally hundreds of years of knowledge and experience between them... I have never met anybody with the ability to look at a sett and state that there are diseased animals in it... Long claw marks, excavated skulls, the distinctive badger smell - they are all an everyday event that shouldn't necessarily lead you to assume that a sett is diseased. Have any of these so called experts ever produced any evidence that the setts they have identified are indeed diseased?
Farmers...are desperate for a way forward and are keen to latch onto anything they can to get on top of the disease. The only answer for them is to get rid of the source and you can get rid of the cattle problem. With that I fully agree. However, the way there isn't by using scare tactics and promises of a cure when one doesn't exist - yet.."
Read email in full

February 15th 2010 ~ "farmers are rather taken aback by the fury of the opposition and feel cowed by the anger they hear on the radio."

A Welsh farmer writes, "I guess it is difficult to appreciate the level of concern for an animal they don't much care for, and to take in the lack of concern for the animals they do know and love that must continue endlessly to be killed. Really cattle with their unique grazing on the ancient swards are just as much part of and essential to the natural environment of the British Isles as badgers. Both cattle and badgers existed here after the last ice age, but we caused aurochsen, (the ancestor of domestic cattle) to become extinct and now have the modern cattle with some of those ancient genes from the aurochsen to allow them to graze the native swards of our wild plants to keep them intact and all the life they support."

February 12th 2010 ~ Imperial's report has been leapt on as "scientific proof"

The report by Imperial College London and Zoological Society of London, produced in advance of the cull of badgers in the TB hotspot of west Wales, is based on evidence of the flawed Krebs trial between 1998 and 2005. Hardly a basis from which to assert that culling infected badgers is not cost-effective. Even DEFRA admitted in 2005 that the overall trapping efficiency was remarkably poor at between 20 and 60 per cent (and see letter in Vet Record). But Paul Flynn MP, undoubtedly a decent and kindly man who asked pertinent questions during foot and mouth, mentions in his blog this week
"the scientific evidence that culls do not reduce TB in cattle."
The Imperial report is not "scientific" in the sense of "proved by science" and indeed science is baffled in its attempts to find a solution to TB. As the virologist Dr Ruth Watkins points out , the TB bacterium poses problems for vaccine makers. These are being addressed - but not yet successfully. In this dreadful situation she writes,
" I used to believe that there was insufficient evidence about 5 years ago to justify the killing of badgers which seemed like part of the inane response of DEFRA, Kill Kill Kill as they so horribly responded to the FMD epidemic in doing, when of course there was a highly effective vaccine ready for use. I have changed my mind about badgers now."
Of course it is painful to contemplate the killing of badgers. The alternative is to watch the slaughter of thousands more cattle, know that infected badgers are enduring a slow, miserable and painful end, and see the threat to other mammals, including Man, increasing.

February 11th 2010 ~ "Will he therefore have a word with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who seems to have lost the plot on this..."

Hansard yesterday suggests a lack of awareness even among those MPs who ask questions about the Welsh policy. Alun Michael was keen to seize upon yesterday's report (see below). However, Roger Williams seems always to show a grasp of what is important:
" The Labour-led Administration in Cardiff bay have come up with a positive programme to eliminate TB in cattle in Wales, which includes better biosecurity, progress on the vaccination programme and a limited cull of infected wildlife. I am sure that the Minister will agree that devolution is not about isolation; it is about spreading best practice. Will he therefore have a word with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who seems to have lost the plot on this, and give him some good tips on how that approach could be implemented in England as well? That would provide a UK free of TB, rather than just one country free of it."
Hansard

February 11 2010 ~ ".. there is always the risk of it spreading back in as a result of DEFRA not taking the tough decisions necessary to tackle this disease."

Politics.co.uk reports that after the debate above, Roger Williams added:
"The Labour led administration in Cardiff Bay has developed a very impressive campaign to eliminate the scourge of TB by improving biosecurity, pressing forward with vaccination and instituting a well planned cull of infected wildlife. However, if the Welsh Assembly manages to reduce, or even eliminate TB, in Wales, there is always the risk of it spreading back in as a result of DEFRA not taking the tough decisions necessary to tackle this disease.
If we are to get hold of TB then it is no good to do the hard work in Wales and then let the disease seep back in because of similar policies not being implemented in England.
Whilst I appreciate the Minister stating his support for the policy adopted by the Assembly Government, he did not answer my question about whether he would raise this issue with colleagues at DEFRA.
I will be writing to the Minister to again ask him to raise this issue with DEFRA colleagues so that a UK wide strategy can be implemented and the whole of the UK can move towards TB free status"

February 10th 2010 ~ The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has warned against a kneejerk reaction

The new report by Imperial College London and Zoological Society of London produced "ahead of" the cull of badgers in the TB hotspot of west Wales claims the benefits "disappear" after four years. A press release from the BVA quotes Professor Bill Reilly, President of the BVA:
"This paper clearly demonstrates that badger culling did have an impact on the incidence of bovine TB in cattle, which is a very positive outcome....The report, based on a single trial, concludes that badger culling is not cost-effective, but the cost of TB to farmers and the government is already incredibly high. Investment now could reduce the costs in the much longer term. The BVA warns against a kneejerk reaction to this paper that would rule out badger culling in the future." Read BVA press release.

February 10th 2010 ~ There may be those for whom this BBC headline suggests political pressure at work.

A BBC article, Badger culls 'not cost effective', quotes Prof Christl Donnolly of Imperial College and its first paragraph is: "Badger culls are unlikely to be a cost- effective way of controlling bovine tuberculosis in cattle, a report warns."
The report by Imperial College London and Zoological Society of London has been produced "ahead of" the cull of badgers in the TB hotspot of west Wales.
"...The report, which studied the aftermath of cull trials in England, claims the benefits "disappear" after four years..."
But the "cull trials" referred to were the one Randomised Badger Culling Trial, also known by its acronym RBCT or "the Krebs trial" between 1998 and 2005. Prof Donnolly (one of that small group headed by Roy Anderson, John Krebs and David King in 2001) was very much involved as deputy Chair of the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) but, as Private Eye's Muckspreader revealed in 2006 that project was
" ... made up of scientists whose main qualification is their complete lack of any expertise in TB. ... the Krebs trials were only a pseudo-scientific charade, never designed to work. Even Defra admits that the percentage of badgers culled was sometimes as low as 20 percent. .."(Read in full)
Wales Chief Vet Christiane Glossop, not quoted until the end of the BBC article today, says that the culling trials in Wales are very different from the Krebs trials :
"The differences are so significant to prevent true comparison of the results... . We can't let this situation continue unchecked...What we are proposing is to combine a limited cull of badgers with strict cattle control measures within a defined area over a sustained period."

February 10 2010 ~"All that work, together with that of the veterinary investigation officers, has effectively been ignored by both Krebs and Bourne..."

Now, in 2010, and as Muckspreader put it four years ago, "the tragedy rolls on: for farmers, for cattle, for taxpayers, and for all those sick badgers, condemned to a lingering death.." John Cohen, BVetMed, MRCVS of Chard, Somerset, wrote in the Veterinary Times, June 12th 2006,
"Over the past 25 years or more, many veterinary officers have diligently collected masses of data on thousands of breakdowns, and have had their work scrutinised by a sceptical mini panel. All that work, together with that of the veterinary investigation officers, has effectively been ignored by both Krebs and Bourne. .."
(More of John Cohen's Vet Times article can be seen at the Bovine TB Blogspot for June 25, 2007)

February 6th 2010 ~ "A Th-2 response is of no use to contain the infection, and will give a positive skin test or bovigam test result either."

Warmwell.com is very grateful to the expert virologist, Ruth Watkins, for an email received today - mainly in response to and in support of that of Dr Zellweger below. To give a wholly inadequate summary of it, the email looks at how vaccines work and shows how BCG vaccines are not yet effective if given after infection with M bovis or M tuberculosis.
Unlike many bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis are among the bacteria that "like" to be engulfed by the body's defences, retaining the ability to grow very slowly and remain latent. They are not killed unless there is a special stimulation of the of the cell that has engulfed them by gamma interferon, released by the Th-1 helper T-cells. Dr Watkins explains (in much greater detail than this summary can) how, despite mycobacteria having a waxy outer layer, there are many molecules protruding which provide suitable antigenic sites for antibodies to bind if any specific antibodies can be present. Extract on BCG vaccine:
".. The careful selection of the BCG bacterial strain, such as the Glaxo 1077 strain, has been shown to generate the Th-1 immune response.... However this Th-1 response is subverted by infection with environmental mycobacteria such as avium species, so that the Th-1 is switched to Th-2 and the Th-2 ensures the production of (useless) antibody...
A high mycobacterial load in an infected animal has the same effect, switching off Th-1 and switching on Th-2. A Th-2 response is of no use to contain the infection, and will not give a positive skin test or bovigam test result either. .... Development of new vaccines have focussed on attempting to ensure the Th-1 or protective effect of BCG is sustained despite environmental mycobacteria exposure- this goal is not yet adequately achieved..."
Read email

February 6th 2010 ~ Revised DEFRA TB leaflet on camelids - the section regarding the use of anti tuberculin drugs has been removed (and other minor changes)

The revised DEFRA leaflet (pdf fle is here) (We have also extracted the text only) Extract:
"...Reactor camelids must be slaughtered. However there are no statutory provisions at present to compensate owners...... if owners agree to have their animals tested for TB at the government's expense, Animal Health will ask for written consent to release for slaughter any animals identified as reactors prior to that testing taking place.
A flat rate ex gratia payment may be made for any reactors removed... Any non-reactor animals that need to be culled as dangerous contacts or suspect clinical cases of TB may also be eligible...".

February 5th 2010 ~ "I agree that an oral vaccine would be much more effective, and we are working very hard, and providing extra funding, to bring that about as soon as possible." Hilary Benn

James Paice had asked (Hansard yesterday) "Does the Secretary of State really consider it to be a success that over the past 12 years, 150,000 head of cattle in the south-west alone have been slaughtered, and that the number continues to rise? Does he really believe that his current policies have any prospect whatever of controlling the disease, let alone of reducing or eradicating it? As he well knows, until we have an oral vaccine in four years' time, any work with vaccine is bound to be on a trial basis only no one envisages that an injectable vaccine, which is involved in the trials that he was talking about, has any real significant prospect of deployment, because for that to happen one must catch all the badgers. When is he going to get a grip of this matter? He quotes the ISG regularly, but its conclusions were never peer reviewed, even if the evidence it gathered was. Will he accept that he is drawing sustenance from conclusions that were not peer reviewed?"
Mr Benn also revealed that the total amount DEFRA has spent on "measures to control bovine tuberculosis in each of the last three years is £69.6 million in 2006-07, £65.3 million in 2007-08 and £84.2 million in 2008-09." See whole TB section Hansard yesterday)

February 4th 2010 ~ Why BCG does not perform like other vaccines - BCG considered by Dr Ueli Zellweger

The badger vaccination campaign envisaged for England using BCG will need to be repeated at least every twenty months. As has been said several times on this website there are, unfortunately, great difficulties involved in using BCG vaccine with animals. Here, Dr Zellweger summarises the problems as he sees them. Extract:
" ... the tubercle bacteria have a waxy coat to which antibodies cannot attach. Tuberculosis therefore causes a so called humoral body defence...Any BCG vaccine stimulates this humoral defence only but never prevents an infection; it may keep it on a low scale maybe. There is no other vaccine available..." Read in full
And apart from taking and killing cattle and the constant exhortations to farmers to take care of their own farm security and hygiene, there are no other plans yet afoot to tackle the ever increasing problem of TB in England. (Emails to warmwell.com giving other views are also very welcome).

February 3rd 2010 ~ Dr Christianne Glossop talking about the TB Eradication Programme for Wales.

In 2009 there was a 22% increase from the previous years in new incidence of TB in herds in north Wales and a 39% increase on the numbers of cattle slaughtered. Dr Glossop's words to farmers last week are quoted on the Welsh Assembly Government website:
".. in areas where the disease is endemic, like west Wales, the disease is present in both badgers and cattle, which is why we have to tackle the disease in both species. Only dealing with cattle will not be enough because badgers are infected.
Science has proved that badgers do play a role in the transmission of bovine TB and while I hope that in future vaccination of badgers will be a part of Welsh policy, we have to get rid of the infection first before being in a position to vaccinate and protect badgers."
Read in full

February 2 2010 ~ "the precautionary principle will be applied ..."

A Wiltshire farmer writes to comment on the way the government chooses to apply what it likes to refer to as the precautionary principle.
"I see Ed Milliband quoted as saying, in relation to the debate about Climate Change, that we should adopt "the precautionary principle". This same principle was invoked to justify the removal from the food chain of cattle that could conceivably have carried BSE. This was done at enormous cost and still we don't know if it achieved anything. I'm sure this was the thinking, although I don't remember if the actual words were used or who said them, to justify the bloody and illegal contiguous cull of animals in the 2001 F & M epidemic. Will Mr Benn adopt the precautionary principle in respect of TB?"
He answers that he fears that the danger to people and cattle will be forgotten and the precautionary principle applied only in order to protect badgers.

January 30 2010 ~ "How can there be faith in the system?"

In response to Dr Watkins below a West Country farmer writes,
"...she is quite right (I think) in saying the whole trouble with testing is the inability to test the whole picture (badgers and cows) and that the test itself is unreliable. We had never had TB in our ring fenced farm. We found three dead badgers over the previous year and that same year, 5 cows failed the TB test.
On slaughter, three had lesions, 2 showed nothing at all.
Our Hereford Bull then failed the Test. He had passed the TB Test FIVE times previously but upon slaughter had open lesions on lung, liver and chest. The further puzzle is that if he was the source of the infection why did we not suffer more reactors? There is a 60 day gap between tests so - am I to believe the amount of infection in the bull had developed in 60 days?"
These sorts of questions are continuing to go unanswered - and in the English hotspots, the frustration and misery continue.

28/29 January 2010 ~ "although we all like badgers, badgers themselves suffer terribly as a result of this disease."

Daniel Kawczynski in Wednesday's debate on Dairy Farming mentioned the difficulty of talking to the Wildlife Trust in his constituency :
" The first question to me was, "Well, Mr. Kawczynski you horrible chap, why do you want to kill all those lovely badgers?" Of course, the emblem of the Wildlife Trusts movement is a badger and so passionate are the members of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust about badgers that they have even taken my wife and me to look at a badger sett in my constituency. They gave my daughter a cuddly badger soft toy.... The problem is that, although we all like badgers, badgers themselves suffer terribly as a result of this disease. I have to say that the next Conservative Government must tackle this issue of badgers and I expect to see a limited cull of badgers, should a Conservative Government be elected to office. I make no bones about saying that, because I am absolutely convinced that culling must be part of the process of controlling badgers, no matter how controversial it is."

28/29 January 2010 ~ " In cattle, the attempt to detect all infections, latent, early and active in early and late stages in cattle and kill all these animals is doomed to failure..."

A lengthy and self-confessedly sad email from the expert virologist, Ruth Watkins today explains that because the detection of all infections doesn't occur and there is a continual adding of new cattle cases by exposure and infection from other infected species (in addition to possibly other infected cattle), the current attempt to detect all stages of bTB infection in cattle is quite hopeless.
She writes,
".. to tackle M bovis infection in cattle, the infection in other species in which it is endemic will also have to be addressed. Badger experts are implacable in their opposition but none are microbiologists and there their arguments fall down.
I used to believe that there was insufficient evidence - about 5 years ago - to justify the killing of badgers, the killing of which seemed like part of the inane response of DEFRA, Kill Kill Kill as they so horribly responded to the FMD epidemic (when of course there was a highly effective vaccine ready for use.)
I have changed my mind about badgers now."
The email reminds us that the only way to control the M bovis epidemic is to make sure that each infected animal infects less than one other on average - something that applies equally to both main endemic infected populations in the UK: cattle and badgers. Read in full

January 28 2010 ~ "TB hangs over us like the sword of Damocles..."

Part of an email received today: "...I find Hilary Benn's attitude to farming unacceptable. Do not farmers have feelings that need to be considered as well as the "General Public" - who do not have to deal with the every day horror of TB whether it be in badgers or cattle?

January 28 2010 ~ Is Hilary Benn's justification out of date?

The Farmers Guardian reports today on Hilary Benn's letter to the Guardian in which he said:
"...My decision against a badger cull was made after careful consideration of the scientific evidence, practicality and public acceptability, following discussions with farmers, vets and wildlife groups.
We have tried badger culling, but the conclusion of the Independent Scientific Group was that badger culling 'cannot meaningfully contribute to the future control' of TB in cattle in Britain..."
But while many will sympathise with Mr Benn's distaste for badger culling, the overview of the 67 page Badgers and cattle TB: the final report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB the Fourth Report of Session 2007 - 08 of the EFRA committee - show that a subsequent review of the ISG's Final Report, produced at the Government's request,
"..produced a different interpretation of the same basic data. Both reports said that badger culling would have an overall beneficial effect. However, whilst the ISG concluded that culling would make a "modest difference" in the incidence of cattle TB, the King report concluded that at 300km

"3. There is no single measure which will achieve the eradication of bovine TB. We will need to have in place and use a range of tools: effective diagnostic tests; targeted cattle controls; and vaccination for badgers and cattle; and to remain open to the possibility of using badger culling. ...." (Read in full)

January 25 2010 ~ " The stress and worry is unbelievable to those not living it on a daily basis...."

One comment following the TB blog quoted below, sums up the grinding misery for those most affected by the threat of bovine TB . Lesley from Devon (whose blog is always upbeat and readable) wrote: "... Goats are vulnerable too of course so I have a vested interest in knowing how all my unfortunate neighbours are getting on. It's just such an endless treadmill. Clear for a few months, then down again, then clear, then down again. The stress and worry is unbelievable to those not living it on a daily basis."

January 21 2010 ~ "inconclusive on a standard reading became reactor status on severe."

Pat Bird's Farmers Guardian TB Blog posting ends today on a warily optimistic note - but not before describing the heartache of previous months:
".. As they had all calved around the time of the test, and as Defra were not prepared to take the calves as well, I kept the cows on until their offspring could be weaned.
Then we wormed and fluked every animal in August, which delayed their departure - at least for the food chain - until October.
They had no lesions at slaughter, so we were back onto 'standard' interpretation for the next round of testing and I had booked this for November. But AH had other ideas, and having consulted its testing bible, said no. It must be 60 days after the cattle had left. Even though their departure had been delayed and even though their calves were still here. ..." Read on

January 21 2010 ~"our members see the devastation caused by the disease every day - in terms of the welfare of both cattle and badgers, and the impact on the farming community"

Following George Monbiot's Guardian Comment article on Tuesday, "When our economic interests are at stake, the war on nature resumes" the letters in the Guardian today illustrate what one writer calls "the gulf of misunderstanding which bedevils the debate". The lead letter is from Professor Bill Reilly, the President of the British Veterinary Association and it attempts to explain why vet organisations are supporting the Welsh action. Of Monbiot's attack, he says it..:
" would have been better directed at the secretary of state, who has consistently refused to accept that an infectious disease such as tuberculosis must be tackled in all species, - irrespective of whether they are farmed or wild.
As organisations representing vets across the UK, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) have taken a very strong line on tackling bovine tuberculosis because our members see the devastation caused by the disease every day - in terms of the welfare of both cattle and badgers, and the impact on the farming community.
.... We did not take the decision to support this badger cull lightly, but until we get on top of TB the vast majority of animals that come into contact with it will suffer..."
Read all letters

January 20th 2010 ~ bTB vaccine

Dr Colin Fink writes to point out that
"Your correspondent, Hugh Coryn, has highlighted a microbiological problem rather than an administrative problem. Even BCG ( TB attenuated live organisms) has only 30-60 % efficacy in humans- and there is no TB vaccine for any of the other species - M Leprae or M Bovis or M Tubercle. We have no suitable vaccine and the nature of the organism makes vaccine development a continuing problem.
To the best of my knowledge this dilemma is pertinent to all species who may be infected with Mycobacteria."
His point is that it is a little unfair to criticise institutions unless the problem is administrative and their fault. It is also interesting to see what Dr Fink wrote some time ago summarising the problems of diagnosis for TB.

January 20th 2010 ~ The NFU 'not tough enough' to make a difference, suggests Derek Mead, Mr Kendall's challenger for NFU presidency

The Farmers Guardian reports: "The two presidential candidates locked horns for the first time in the South East regional hustings in London yesterday (Monday) - the first of 7 hustings across all regions of England this week."
Peter Kendall is quoted:
"We wanted a government department that backed us and they are just starting to do it. Because we have changed the perception of farming from being a pain in the backside to one that is seen through media and government as a valuable resource we now have the best chance to change the TB situation and we must make sure we knock it home..."
Derek Mead, however, is quoted as saying that Defra treated the NFU "as a rubber stamping organisation" Read in full

January 18/19th 2010 ~ "Dr Gillett may be tragically correct in saying vaccination is not currently the answer to TB in cattle."

Email received from the veterinary surgeon, Hugh Coryn who feels that a long hard fresh look at the epidemiology and treatment of TB in all species is long overdue - Extract:
"... If one considers medical vaccine campaigns; Small Pox, Polio, Diphtheria, Measles. Meningitis...the list goes on, adequately funded of course, why then should vaccination in animals not be a valid option? Indeed there are many examples of the use of vaccines in both pets and farm animals... The current EU policy of a ban on vaccination is illogical and tainted with commercial interest. The UK authorities should be prepared to challenge it....... "
Read in full
(As we say below, warmwell.com is in no position to endorse any opinion given, but we are grateful to those veterinary and medical professionals or farmers with informed comments to make by email and who give permission for such views to be published here.)

January 18/19th 2010 ~ 7 page leaflet for Alpaca (and Llama) owners

DEFRA, in partnership with the Welsh Government, Natural Scotland, the CLA and Animal Health, has produced a 7 page bTB leaflet for camelid owners which can be accessed here. UPDATE The leaflet has been updated. Here. The photos of alpacas may delight lovers of these attractive creatures. The advice about the near impossibility of treating infected animals is, however, extremely bleak. (page 6):
".... Many treatment regimes, whilst seemingly capable of resolving the clinical signs of TB, will not result in a complete microbiological cure (elimination of all the bacilli) and may result in latent infections and potentially the development of drug resistance, resulting in serious public and animal health risks. It is also doubtful that camelids would survive such treatment, as the drugs would be likely to destroy the bacteria essential for rumenal function.
Additionally, owners need to be aware that by treating animals for TB they are jeopardising the only method of control currently available to infected herds (testing and slaughter of any positives) due to the effects the drugs may have on the immunological responses detected by the ante-mortem diagnostic tests.Animal Health may, therefore, be unable to undertake any TB testing of infected camelid herds if they become aware that owners are administering anti-TB drugs to some of their animals."
Owners should read the leaflet in full (pdf) for advice about discouraging badgers and taking particular care not to introduce or move animals that could be infected.

Monday, January 18, 2010 ~ Alpaca deaths: "a comforting 18 on Defra's tables, while a quick round robin telephone call to distraught owners extracted a figure of over 200 animals - ten times the 'official' one"

On the subject of bTB statistics, the Bovine TB Blogspot points out that at the Oxford Farming Conference, Hilary Benn hinted that "unofficial Defra figures are showing that disease levels fell during 2009."
"...with only sentinel tested cattle under any semblance of Defra control, and a maintenance reservoir of TB encouraged by statute to let rip, in this instance it may not be the most accurate. Defra statistics have several lines of monthly statistics - or they do if they are updated [more on that later] - each giving different information, or the same information in different format..
There is a column showing the number of herds registered on the VetNet system, another showing how many of these are under restriction because of a 'TB incident'; then further totals, including how many of these are 'New Breakdowns', or even 'New Confirmed Breakdowns'. And it is latter which the Minister was clutching when he spoke last week. And it is this heavily sanitised figure which he presents to his European masters...."
Read the posting in full

January 16/18 2010 ~ " Talk of vaccination is an unfortunate or contrived distraction from the main issue. ."

Dr Paul Gillett writes in some detail today, and, as he says "reluctantly", on the subject of bTB vaccines. Extract:
"...Research into possible use of vaccines should of course continue but should be seen as exactly that - research. At present a control policy based on vaccination with all its attendant uncertainties and prolonged delays is a luxury we can't afford to consider at a time of increasing numbers of affected cattle and badgers. Talk of vaccination is an unfortunate or contrived distraction from the main issue of producing a coherent, co-ordinated set of measures to control the disease in animals, this will need to include, however unpalatable, selective culling of badgers as it currently does of cattle. Anything less than that will be a disservice to farmers, cattle, badgers and the tax payer."
Read in full

January 16/18 2010 ~ The miserable consequences of bTB for badgers

A description of the consequences of bTB infection for a badger sett is explained here in another email from the very seriously concerned vet, Dr Zellweger. As he explains, healthy badgers heal quickly from minor wounds, but when bTB is involved it is different. "The very slow multiplying bacteria will sooner or later cause smelly excretions, wild flesh and pus which might be infectious - permanently or temporarily. Wounds may be licked every now and then by the very badger or by his mates even. New infection is around the corner, but this time in the intestine. If a sow with bTB has cubs - or any other sibling of the same sett have TB - these youngsters may get infected in their very first weeks of life by their own mother. bTB causes a very slow death after suffering over months or even more than a year...What a life prospect ..." As the vet warns,
"Worldwide TB causes millions of victims every year; the main part of those are caused by the human strain Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but bTB ( Mycobacterium bovis ) is equally infectious and dangerous for people."
Read in full.

January 15th 2010 ~ ".. for the 42% of farms in the cull area which have suffered from TB since 2003, the decision of the Welsh Assembly government is long overdue." "

The FUW's Director of Agricultural Policy is Dr Nicholas Fenwick. His article in the Guardian yesterday: "Welsh farmers will be relieved that the badger cull is going ahead" is an attempt to explain the scientific basis for the link between bTB infected badgers and the spread to cattle - and how removing badgers by culling is the only effective solution available at present. He takes a calm look at the evidence to date but notes that:
".. ... campaigns by groups such as the RSPCA and the Badger Trust have been overwhelmingly successful in distracting public opinion from the less palatable but nevertheless real evidence."
On vaccination he reluctantly concludes
".. ...for those who remember the same discussions taking place 20 years ago, vaccination seems like the proverbial end of the rainbow.
So while those who are against culling can base their views on a range of arguments, one that doesn't hold water is that badger culling doesn't work. It does work, and for the 42% of farms in the cull area which have suffered from TB since 2003, the decision of the Welsh Assembly government is long overdue."
Read in full Comments below the article show that there is still public ignorance and outrage that fails to appreciate the seriousness of the situation. (Few farmers or vets, it seems, have commented.)

January 15th 2010 Those who - rightly - want to see effective vaccination for both badgers and cattle are evidently unaware of the Catch 22 nature of EU policy

Based as always on trade considerations, cattle vaccines for bovine tuberculosis are currently prohibited under EU legislation. A validated Diva test is needed to get vaccination even considered - but the EU rules have made it unviable in recent years for vaccine companies to carry out the necessary research and development. (More below) Vaccine companies are not charities and will put money and expertise only into products for which they know there will be a market.

January 14th 2010 ~ "The earliest projected date for the use of a BCG cattle vaccine with a DIVA test to Differentiate Infected from Vaccinated Animals is 2015."

Hansard reports Jim Fitzpatrick's answer yesterday on when he expects a diagnostic test to differentiate between infected and vaccinated animals to become available for cattle. As always, our membership of the EU means that the Commission needs to give the go-ahead. As Mr Fitzpatrick says, "The possible future use of cattle vaccines has been discussed with the European Commission and the Commission has indicated that an accredited DIVA test will be critical for a cattle vaccination policy. DEFRA will continue to work closely with the Commission and other member states to minimise the time required to make the required legislative changes once the necessary scientific information is available."
(Many might think that Mr Fitzpatrick side-stepped a direct answer to Norman Baker's question: ".....what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between badger populations and the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle....")

January 14th 2010 ~ "I read the instructions for TB testing alpacas and the like; whoever thought these up has never worked in the field..."

The vet, Hugh Coryn, MRCVS writes,
" If you took twenty different Veterinary Surgeons in a field test of the technique you would be hard pressed to get two sets of similar results; the test is just too difficult under cold wet field conditions! Unfortunately Defra and its predecessor Maff does not like comment or ideas from those who work in the field and have an inbuilt resistance to outside ideas.
All governments are too close to entrenched commercial interests.
Thus resistance to vaccination - totally illogical in many ways."
(All informed comment welcome. Email.)

January 12th 2010 ~ "oral vaccination appears to be as effective as subcutaneous vaccination. But other safety issues still need to be resolved before the vaccine could be used in wildlife"

The US journal ScienceDaily last year, reported on the bTB work of microbiologists at the National Animal Disease Center (NADC) in Ames, Iowa,
"...NADC veterinary officers Ray Waters and Mitch Palmer and molecular biologist Tyler Thacker, are working on several fronts to optimize bovine tuberculosis diagnostic tests and vaccinations for both wildlife and domestic livestock. For instance, Palmer is using white-tailed deer, which are a significant reservoir of bovine tuberculosis, to test experimental vaccines for potential bovine tuberculosis control in wildlife.
So far his studies indicate that vaccines can be effective in decreasing the severity of the disease, and that oral vaccination appears to be as effective as subcutaneous vaccination. But other safety issues still need to be resolved before the vaccine could be used in wildlife."
(As is said below, the lack of effective and validated vaccines is cause for concern - as is the incidence of