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Bovine Tuberculosis

Answer

Since 1998, a wide-ranging programme of research into both cattle and badger vaccines has been in place, with over £29.9 million invested up to the end of the 2009-10 financial year. Results of completed research projects have been peer-reviewed and published in scientific journals and on the Defra website. The cattle vaccines research programme has successfully identified lead BCG-based candidate vaccines for bTB and work is under way to support the licence application for an injectable BCG vaccine for use in cattle. However, vaccination of cattle against TB is currently prohibited under EU legislation. BCG interferes with the primary TB diagnostic test, the tuberculin skin test, so vaccinated cattle would react as if infected and herds could not be declared officially TB free (OTF). Therefore, as part of the UK research programme we are carrying out work to develop and validate a diagnostic test to differentiate between infected and vaccinated animals (a so-called DIVA test). Changes will be required to the EU legislation to allow this test to be used in place of, or alongside, the tuberculin skin test to confer OTF status. Because we are still at this early stage of developing a useable cattle vaccine, we have not yet been able to assess the costs of vaccinating cattle. Badger vaccines are further progressed. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) issued a licence for the injectable BCG badger vaccine in March 2010, the first tuberculosis vaccine authorised for use in badgers in the UK. A separate strand of research to develop an oral BCG vaccine bait formulation and delivery protocol is being conducted in collaboration with researchers in the Republic of Ireland and New Zealand, as this will be the most practical application of a vaccine to a wild population.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

1386; 720 c259-60WA

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Cattle Vaccination Bovine tuberculosis

Link

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