Badgers and bovine tuberculosis (bTB)

The Wildlife Trusts are very conscious of the hardship that bovine TB (bTB) causes in the farming community and the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease. However, we believe that a badger cull is not the answer. Biosecurity and vaccination should be at the centre of efforts to tackle this disease rather than a badger cull.

Tackling the disease should therefore include the following measures:

• Biosecurity: All possible measures should be pursued to prevent disease transmission on-farm.
• Badger vaccination: Support landowners to use the injectable BadgerBCG vaccine. We also urge Defra to continue development of an oral badger vaccine.
• Cattle vaccine: Complete development of a cattle vaccine and secure change to EU regulation to permit its commercial deployment.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/badgers-and-bovineTB