UK resumes badger culling tests in bid to curb TB
Date: 30-Apr-02
Country: UK
Author: Veronica Brown
The resumption of the programme, which will kill around 12,000 of Britain's 300,000 badger population over five years, comes after an almost year-long suspension due to last year's foot-and-mouth disease epidemic.
Farmers have long blamed the spread of bovine TB, which has been present in Britain for several years, on wildlife and notably badgers, but conservationists maintain it may be spread between the cattle themselves.
The National Federation of Badger Groups (NFBG), an animal rights umbrella group, said in a statement levels of infection rose dramatically during foot-and-mouth, which crippled Britain's rural economy.
"Undetected and low levels of infection in cattle herds were dramatically amplified whilst cattle were cooped up during the foot-and-mouth outbreak," NFBG head Dr Elaine King said.
"Badgers are clearly not to blame - infection has sprung up in previously unaffected sites. Badgers have not migrated from the west country to the north, but cattle were moved despite the enormous risk of TB outbreaks," she added.
The disease can infect humans but officials said that the incidence has been nominal since public health measures were introduced, including the widespread pasteurisation of milk.
"Bovine Tuberculosis remains a serious and growing animal health problem, causing significant economic and other damage to affected farms," animal health minister Elliot Morley told reporters.
"The government has a wide-ranging strategy to tackle bovine TB and the badger culling trial is one important element of that strategy."
Morley ruled out farmers' calls for the resumption of large-scale culling, based on their belief that badgers are the chief agent for spreading the disease, as the trial programme still had to answer crucial scientific questions.
"The previous culling programme could hardly be described as an unqualified success," he said, adding that such a move would undermine the current trial programme.
Data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) showed there were 726 new herd incidences of TB between January 1 and March 31, of which 396 have been confirmed, 192 are unconfirmed and 138 are still unclassified.
DEFRA said there were 478 cases in herds last year, but the figure is incomplete due to the suspension of testing.
The culling trial is being carried out alongside a programme of research including work on how the disease is spread and development of a vaccine for long term use in cattle or badgers.
The government has played down remarks by a veterinarian that an outbreak of bovine TB in Wales could become more serious than last year's crippling foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
