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Bovine Tuberculosis Study Finds Cattle-to-cattle Transmission 'most Common'
31 May 2023
Image source, Anne Coatesy
Image caption,The study reveals patterns of bovine TB transmission within and between cattle and badger populations
Cattle-to-cattle transmission of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is "considerably more common" than badger-to-cattle transmission, a new study has found.
The research by the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI) analysed the genetic data of the bacterium that causes bTB.
It follows a five-year Test, Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) project in County Down which included selective badger culls.
The AFBI study generated 162 gigabytes of genetic data.
It reveals patterns of bTB transmission within and between cattle and badger populations in the TVR zone near Banbridge.
It found cattle-to-cattle transmission was "by far" the most common form of disease spread observed, while badger-to-badger transmission was undetected.
Scientists detected transmission from cattle to badgers and vice versa, but found cattle-to-badger transmission "appeared to be considerably more common than badger-to-cattle transmission", although highly variable.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,The study found badger-to-cattle TB spread was by far less common than cattle-to-cattle
AFBI said: "The sum of the evidence suggests that cattle were playing the major role in the spread of disease in the TVR zone, with badgers involved, but to a lesser extent."
But it added that where badger-to-cattle transmission occurs, it can amplify within a herd "to have a much greater impact" and "it remains plausible that a trickle of infection from badgers to cattle could still have an outsized effect".
The scientists said the use of genomics for disease surveillance, used widely during the Covid pandemic, was "likely to be of increasing importance for bTB control in the future".
A strategy to tackle Bovine TB in Northern Ireland was announced by the then-agriculture minister Edwin Poots in March 2022.
Protesters' Fury As Controversial Badger Cull Starts Again
Protesters' fury as controversial badger cull starts again in attempt to stop spread of bovine TB in cattle
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Turss, pictured, explained that the cull was part of a wider strategy to control the spread of bovine TB in cattle
A controversial badger cull has started again in Somerset and Gloucestershire in an attempt to stop the spread of bovine TB in cattle.
The pilot scheme, which began last autumn, aims to control the spread of bovine TB by killing at least 70 per cent of the badgers in zones in the two counties.
The Government and the National Farmers' Union insist that there is 'no other way' to tackle TB, which saw 26,000 cattle slaughtered in England last year and costs £100million a year.
But opponents say that culling is inhumane and ineffective - and argue that alternatives such as vaccination should be pursued.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss insisted that the cull - in which 18 per cent of the animals took longer than five minutes to die - would be more humane this year.
She added that the 70 per cent target would be achieved 'over a period of years'.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'In the last set of culls we were able to remove 2,000 badgers, which is a significant portion of the population.
'The countries that have successfully got TB-free, like Australia, have done it through a comprehensive strategy which also includes culling.
'The reality is that leading vets are supporting the cull this year, both the British Veterinary Association and our own chief vet Nigel Gibbens.'
She added: 'We need to get to the 70 per cent over a period of years, that's why we are continuing, that's why this is a four-year programme.'
Recommendations about how to make the cull more humane would also be implemented this year, she said.
'We are absolutely confident that we have taken on board all the recommendations of the independent panel to ensure that we do act with humaneness this year.'
Ms Truss explained that the cull was part of a wider strategy which also includes cattle movement controls, vaccinating badgers in edge areas.
Bovine TB costs the country £100million a year and ministers have struggled to come up with an effective method of controlling it.
Last year the culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire aimed to kill 70 per cent of the badgers by free shooting.
A total of 921 badgers were killed in Gloucestershire and 940 were shot in Somerset.
Neither pilot managed to kill the 70 per cent of the badger population, despite a five-week and three-day extension in Gloucestershire and a three-week extension in Somerset.
Normally, six weeks of culling between June 1 and January 31 each year are allowed under the licences issued, with those carrying out the cull deciding on the start date. This year licence-holders have been given a minimum and maximum number of badgers they have to kill.
Queen guitarist Brian May, pictured protesting against last year's first round of culls, called on this year's culls to be cancelled and called the scheme a 'failure and a disgrace'
Plus, up to 18 per cent of the animals took longer than five minutes to die – many more than the 5 per cent figure for the cull to be judged humane, according to a Government review published earlier this year.
A study, published in the journal Nature in July, found that transmission of TB from badgers to cows plays only a 'relatively minor role' in the spread of the problem.
Last week the Government announced a scheme to vaccinate badgers next to the two cull areas in a bid to create a 'buffer zone' which would work to stop the spread of the disease.
Meurig Raymond, president of the National Farmers' Union, wrote to members to inform them the second year of culling has started.
He said: 'Travelling round the country, I've seen first-hand the total human misery this disease causes for farmers and their businesses.'
'I've sat round farm kitchen tables with families who have been driven to despair after investing time and money building up their herds, only to see them devastated by bovine TB.
Anti-cull campaigners argue that the scheme marks an ineffective way to stop the spread of the disease - which costs the Government £100m a year. They argue alternatives such as vaccination should be pursued
'I've spoken to grown men who've been reduced to tears as they load cow after cow, or calf after calf, onto lorries to be taken away for slaughter because of this disease.
'I also know from personal experience the emotional and economic impact this disease has because my own farm is currently under TB restrictions and I am determined to ensure that everything possible is done to tackle this disease.
'No one would choose to kill badgers if there was an effective alternative in areas where TB is rife.
'But if we're ever going to get on top of bovine TB in areas where the disease is endemic there is no other choice.
'The Chief Vet has said culling over a four-year period in both pilot areas will have an impact on disease control.
'I am confident that these pilot culls will help deliver a reduction in bovine TB in cattle and it is vital that they are allowed to be successfully completed so they can deliver the maximum benefits.'
'This is a triumph of politics, pride and persecution over common sense and science. Potentially, almost 2,000 badgers could die - that's more than last year - and for what?'
- Dominic Dyer, of the Badger Trust and Care for the Wild
Mr Raymond also said that badger vaccination 'could have a role to play' in areas that are clear of bovine TB to stop the disease spreading any further.
'I know farmers in some of these areas are already involved with local badger vaccination projects because they recognise how important stopping this disease is,' he said.
'Cattle vaccination is also a key element. It is unacceptable that a workable cattle vaccine is still 10 years away and I can assure you the NFU will be doing everything it can to get this process speeded up.'
Anti-cull campaigners greeted the news with sadness and anger.
Dominic Dyer, of the Badger Trust and Care for the Wild, said: 'This is a triumph of politics, pride and persecution over common sense and science.
'Potentially, almost 2,000 badgers could die - that's more than last year - and for what?
'These culls are ill-conceived and incompetently managed, and will contribute nothing to reducing bovine TB in cattle.
'Here we have a Government and the National Farmers' Union pushing ahead with a policy simply because they don't have the guts to admit that it is wrong, and a complete and utter disaster for the farming industry, taxpayer and the protection of our native wildlife.'
Mr Dyer said campaigners were likely to take the High Court decision to reject a judicial review of the need for independent monitoring of the cull operators to the Court of Appeal.
He said: 'The same discredited arguments are being wheeled out.'
'They say no country has beaten bovine TB without culling wildlife - not true, the UK did it in the 1960s and 1970s.
'They say falling bovine TB rates in Ireland show that culling works - but the same reduction has been achieved in Northern Ireland without any culling.
'They say that 'closed' herds are being infected, so it can only be the badgers spreading the disease - but the bovine TB skin test misses 20 per cent of infected cows, meaning they never know for sure that a herd isn't hiding a sick cow.
'The answer to this mess is self-evident - focus on the cattle - but the Government is too stubborn to back down.
A study, published in the journal Nature in July, found that transmission of TB from badgers to cows plays only a 'relatively minor role' in the spread of the problem. Above, an anti-cull camp set up last year
'Meanwhile, badgers will die, peaceful protesters will flock to the cull zones, neighbour will turn against neighbour, cattle will continue to contract bovine TB, and farmers will continue to be sold false hope.
'What a sad and pathetic state of affairs.'
Queen guitarist Brian May, who is a member of Team Badger and the Save Me Trust, called on this year's culls to be cancelled.
'It's almost beyond belief that the Government is blundering ahead with a second year of inept and barbaric badger killing,' he said.
'TB in cattle in England is currently at its lowest level in 10 years, the drop being predictably the result of improved husbandry in cattle.
'So this is a most inappropriate moment for Cameron to be wasting taxpayers' money persecuting our wildlife against the advice of every independent scientist in the field.
'Even the Government's own expert panel has branded the cull as ineffective and inhumane.
'Current revelations from a whistleblower damn the process even more, making it clear that the numbers the present shooters are working towards are completely unreliable.
Normally, six weeks of culling between June 1 and January 31 each year are allowed under the licences issued, with those carrying out the cull deciding on the start date
'This cull is a failure and a disgrace - no more than the fulfilment of a dirty promise - which will rebound on this Government at election time.'
Shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle said: 'Last year an Independent Expert Panel concluded that these badger culls were "ineffective" and "inhumane", and more recently they have been described as an "epic failure" by the chief scientific adviser to Natural England.
'But instead of abandoning these appalling culls the Government have chosen to press ahead without any further independent expert monitoring.
'Labour has consistently said that to get Bovine TB under control we need to bring in stricter cattle measures and prioritise badger and cattle vaccinations, but these culls are not the answer.'
Mark Jones, a vet and executive director for Humane Society UK, said: 'I am appalled and saddened that this cruel and pointless waste of badgers' lives is taking place once more in England.
'Neither Defra nor Natural England appear to have learned anything from last year's events.
'Independent scientific advice that killing badgers is a waste of time has been eschewed, independent oversight of the culls abandoned, kill targets have been set without an accurate idea of actual badger numbers, and farmers continue to be misled into thinking that killing these animals will help solve bovine TB when all the evidence points to the contrary.'
WHY CULLING BADGERS COULD STOP THE SPREAD OF BOVINE TB
Vaccinating cattle against the disease would also have a marked effect in reducing the disease, according to one independent study. Above, a protest poster put up last year
The question of whether badger culls are effective as a way to halt the spread of bovine TB in cattle is one that has sparked debate.
It is widely accepted that badgers spread TB to cattle, and officials estimate around half of herd infections come from badgers.
Badgers are thought to pass on the disease to cattle through their urine, faeces or through droplet infection, in the farmyard or in cattle pastures.
A long-term study showed that proactive culling of 70 per cent of the badgers over a 150 square-kilometre area over four years could be expected to reduce the incidence of the disease in herds by 16 per cent.
The reductions were greater inside the cull area, but culling caused badgers to move around as their social structure was disrupted, spreading disease and causing a short-term increase in infection in herds just outside the cull area.
The Government also points to experience from other countries, including Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, which all successfully tackled TB in livestock using culling of wildlife which spread the disease.
Meanwhile, the National Farmers' Union say that while badger and cattle vaccination would have a role in stemming the spread of the disease - which led to the slaughtering of 26,000 last year - those options remain a long-term plan.
A vaccination for badgers is available but has to be injected, and an oral vaccine which can be put in bait is still some way off, according to officials. The Government calls it a long-term strategy.
But campaigners argue that the culls are ineffective and inhumane.
Badger culling plays only a 'minor role' in helping control the spread of TB in cattle, according to an independent study published earlier this year.
The research also claimed that killing every cow in a herd once the disease has been detected, as Britain did in the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis, would be an effective method of stemming the rise of bovine tuberculosis.
Cutting environmental transmission – which includes badgers, deer and pasture where the disease lingers - by 50 per cent, which could represent the impact of a large scale badger cull, would only reduce that growth to 6 per cent year, the research found.
Vaccinating cattle against the disease would also have a marked effect in reducing the disease, according to the report.
Increased testing of cattle would also help.
The Government-commissioned study also found that up to 18 per cent of the animals took longer than five minutes to die – many more than the 5 per cent for the cull to be judged humane.
Separate research by Natural England found that some animals were shot in the head rather than the heart and took ten minutes to die.
Bovine TB Cattle Slaughterings In England Lowest In 15 Years
The number of cattle slaughtered due to bovine TB in England is at its lowest level for 15 years, according to (new official statistics PDF).
Between April 2022 and March this year, 20,228 TB-infected cattle were compulsorily slaughtered in England, a drop of 24% from the previous year.
This is the fewest slaughters over a 12-month period since 2008.
See also: 5 ways to improve TB control in the UK
In Wales, the number of TB-infected cattle slaughtered was 9,585, a 5% decrease.
In Scotland, which has been officially TB free since October 2009, there were 766 TB-infected cattle slaughtered, a 43% year-on-year rise.
But officials from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) played down the significance of this increase, explaining the majority of these cases were in Ayrshire, where a movement of infected cattle resulted in several breakdowns.
Over 12 months to the end of March 2023, the number of new herd incidents decreased by 7% in England (2,903 to 2,712) and decreased by 2% in Wales (635 to 620). But Scotland recorded a 52% increase year-on-year from 25 to 38 cases.
In England, there were 1,991 herds under restriction due to a TB incident at the end of March 2023, a 16% decrease on the year (2,371 herds in March 2022), driven by comparable decreases in all three risk areas.
In Wales, the number of restricted herds increased by one case from 617 to 618.
Defra policy is to achieve TB-free status for England by 2038, and Welsh government policy is to achieve TB-free status between 2036 and 2041.
Industry leaders have welcomed the latest TB data, especially for England, which show the figures are headed in the right direction.
Neil Shand, chairman of the National Beef Association, said: "At last, TB policy appears to be working in England. The data suggest far fewer farms are affected.
"This also suggests the badger culling policy is working very well. Although Defra plans to phase out culling and replace it with vaccination of cattle and badgers, I believe it's imperative it retains the right to carry out reactive culling in areas where it can be shown there is a reservoir of infection in wildlife.
"I'm also encouraged that Defra secretary Therese Coffey pledged at the Royal Cornwall Show that her department will follow the science and continue to cull badgers if this works to tackle this awful disease."
Gloucestershire beef farmer David Barton, who is a member of the TB Partnership, said the figures showed what a genuine partnership between Natural England, Defra, Apha and farmers can achieve.
"It is good to know that all the hard work put in by many farmers over recent years has seen such success," he said.
But he added: "There is still much work to do to reach our goal of disease eradication. Going forward, I believe partnership and shared governance will be key to success."
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