Tb or not Tb
Welcome to the blog. My name is Ron Benny and I have created this blog to spread awareness of the badger cull in southwest Britain.
The badger cull has been a heated argument between farmers and animal rights activists since the 70s and is still ongoing. The argument is that badgers are carriers of bovine tuberculosis, a form of TB that doesn't affect humans but does affect livestock, therefore culling badgers has been introduced as a quick fix option to eradicate the spread of disease. However it has been proved that Badger culling plays no meaningful part in controlling the TB virus. Killing a number of badgers actually forces them to widen their territory and roam, spreading the disease further and into previously unaffected areas.
Cows contract the disease from the badgers through urine and faeces. Badgers are vectors for the disease unlike other animals such as rats and deer that are ‘end hosts’. They can actually spread the disease to other animals. Modern intensive farming such as ‘strip grazing’ and unprocessed silage have lead to further contamination as the immunity of the livestock is low and every inch of the grass is eaten including contaminated grass. These conditions mean that the disease can take hold and thrive.
Many experimental culls have taken place, the RBCT (Random Badger Culling Trials) took place in 1998 and 11,000 badgers were killed in an attempt to control TB. The findings of this investigation did not display any substantial reduction in the spread of TB.
The truly productive option would be to vaccinate animals against the disease. This option would take a long time to gain a hold on the virus but is perhaps the only option that could produce a long-term positive impact. However, vaccinating the cattle leads to them testing positive to being carriers of the disease, creating movement and exporting problems as it breaks EU regulations. Vaccination of the badgers could prove more effective; 6 programmes testing this idea originally existed yet 5 programmes have been stopped by the government, perhaps under intense pressure from Farmers For Action. Yet a quick fix solution simply does not exist.
I hope you've learnt a little about Bovine TB and the Badger cull through visiting my blog, please look out for our "TB or not TB" billboard and spread the word of the problems facing Britain’s Badgers.
Thanks,
Ron
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