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Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis

Answer

Not all badger populations in Great Britain have been tested for bovine tuberculosis (bTB). However, evidence of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) infection was found in all randomised badger culling trial (RBCT) areas (where culling meant there were carcases that could be tested), namely: Gloucestershire/Herefordshire, Cornwall/Devon, East Cornwall, Herefordshire, North Wiltshire, West Cornwall, Derbyshire/Staffordshire, Devon/Somerset, Gloucestershire and Devon. The prevalence of infection on initial culls was higher in the inner regions of proactive treatment areas (2km or more inside the boundary) than in the outer areas, which is not surprising as trial areas were centred on areas of high bTB risk. The results of Defra’s Road Traffic Accident survey, carried out in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire between 2002 and 2005, showed badger populations in all of the counties sampled were affected by bTB to some degree. On average, M. bovis was detected in 15 per cent of badger carcasses ie around one in seven. This is similar to that recorded in proactively culled badgers in the RBCT during the same time period (16.6 per cent). An extended post-mortem examination carried out on a sample of 205 RBCT badgers revealed substantially more infected animals, approximately double, than did standard post-mortem examination. Therefore, these prevalence values are likely to be under-estimates.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

700 c193WA; 2823

Session

2007-08

Related items

Badgers
Monday, 28 January 2008
Written questions
House of Lords

Subjects

Badgers Bovine tuberculosis

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk