Overrun with Badgers

[unlacedgecko]

Apha seem generally relaxed about deer.... the suggestion seemed to be that Bambi wouldn't sustain much TB without other carriers.
Fallow have been the one species they seem more concerned with

All as far as I can gather....happy to be disabused

It's endemic in herd dwelling deer (fallow and red). See the LACS tb factory deer sanctuary.

 

[egbert]

It's endemic in herd dwelling deer (fallow and red). See the LACS tb factory deer sanctuary.

Bambi just doesn't spread it like some other animals

 

[neilo]

Will be a while until you have TB in Lincolnshire?

ibTB - Mapping bovine TB (bTB) in England and Wales

ibTB is an interactive tool mapping bovine tuberculosis (bTB) outbreaks in England and Wales over the previous 10 years

www.ibtb.co.uk

map of every farm in UK thats had a breakdown and how many cattle etc

@Jonp is in Gwent according to his profile.

 

[long gone 12398536]

just seen that! Would say it could be infected cattle being bought in rather than in the wildlife?

Aye, & possibly transmit it too the local badgers,....as a result ! ,...a seen a statement saying "you could kill EVERY badger in England & Wales, & there would still be btb in the cows ! " ,.....(I'm not qualified , to know , whether this would be the case, or not , though )

 

[CopperBeech]

Aye, & possibly transmit it too the local badgers,....as a result ! ,...a seen a statement saying "you could kill EVERY badger in England & Wales, & there would still be btb in the cows ! " ,.....(I'm not qualified , to know , whether this would be the case, or not , though )

Well yes ...... you have to close the loop don’t you. No one has ever doubted that. The issue is we have for years only ever worked on one prong of a two prong attack. You need to cull infected cattle AND disease vectors in the form of the local wildlife. How would this not be obvious ? Other wise it’s like bailing out a boat without plugging the hole in it.

On a side note .... I still can’t fathom the idea of the importance of protecting badgers ? They do very little of much use at all. There are so many way way more important species.

 

[Gareth J]

Seen a seen a statement saying "you could kill EVERY badger in England & Wales, & there would still be btb in the cows ! "

Where? If you don't mind me asking.

Think about the problem on terms of the now famous "R Number". To start reducing the disease, all that's needed is to reduce the R number below 1. In both host species. Sure you could wipe out both species and get there instantly but no one wants that and it's not needed. Respectfully, anyone making statements like you have quoted is likely trying to stoke fear and outrage around a scenario that is not relevant.

You've also not acknowledged the paper showing causal relationship between badger removal and hedgehog increases as yet. What did you make of it? Did the evidence change your mind? Or did you think the conclusions were flawed?

 

[matthew]

Aye, & possibly transmit it too the local badgers,....as a result ! ,...a seen a statement saying "you could kill EVERY badger in England & Wales, & there would still be btb in the cows ! " ,.....(I'm not qualified , to know , whether this would be the case, or not , though )

A bit of history here for you. And clearing a small area near the Bristol Channel of infectious badgers, kept tested cattle clear of TB for over a decade. No other contemporaneous activity was identified which could have contributed.

'Owning the problem'.

I don't know about you (our readers) but your editors are seething after reading the headline of Farmers Guardian - [link] this week. In ...

bovinetb.blogspot.com

Plus some yoosful links.

 

[unlacedgecko]

A bit of history here for you. And clearing a small area near the Bristol Channel of infectious badgers, kept tested cattle clear of TB for over a decade. No other contemporaneous activity was identified which could have contributed.

'Owning the problem'.

I don't know about you (our readers) but your editors are seething after reading the headline of Farmers Guardian - [link] this week. In ...

bovinetb.blogspot.com

Plus some yoosful links.

But then the silly barstewards got complacent and didn't sign up to the cull...

 

[matthew]

But then the silly barstewards got complacent and didn't sign up to the cull...

Who? Thornbury? Or some areas in general?

 

[unlacedgecko]

Who? Thornbury? Or some areas in general?

Thornburg

 

[matthew]

Thornburg

It isn’t easy to get an area commitment and comply with unNatural England’s demands. I thought Thornbury was getting into gear, but could be wrong. It only takes a few big farms to decline, or landlords to block tenants signing, and the conditions cannot be met.
The whole Dad’s army situation was a crazy way of dealing with a Grade 3 pathogen, and paying up front to do so, but it was all we had. Particularly after Defra / Warwick Uni after spending almost £1m to prove it worked, turned down the opportunity to target infected badger groups using PCR.

 

[Paddington]

My initial understanding of the refusal of Defra to use the PCR test was that it was yet unproven for use in this country. Does the fact that PCR tests are now used thousands of times a day to detect Covid change things ?

 

[matthew]

My initial understanding of the refusal of Defra to use the PCR test was that it was yet unproven for use in this country. Does the fact that PCR tests are now used thousands of times a day to detect Covid change things ?

PCR is indeed used as you say. And it was / is in use to screen for Johnnes disease, when Liz Wellington's team was approached to see if it was an answer to screening badgers for TB, using their latrine samples.
It was also privately funded to screen camelids, a species notoriously difficult to screen ante mortem, using a 'bovine' test.

It worked.

We explored the concept in 2012 - a decade ago.

This is encouraging..

It is always encouraging to find the opposition gathering their collective skirts and rushing headlong into a brick wall: usually somewhat ...

bovinetb.blogspot.com

Later that year, a Proof of Concept study using material from dead alpacas was published.

Someone else deserves a Gold medal.

As the country is gripped by Olympic fever, with medals and congratulatory speeches at every turn, we offer our sincere congratulations to t...

bovinetb.blogspot.com

So yes, PCR works. But a very long gravy train of 'scientists' and associated hangers on are making it abundantly clear that their salaries / pensions are far more important than the health and welfare of both cattle, badgers, any other mammal and indeed human beings, in controlling this Grade 3 Pathogen.

Ker -ching.

If there's one thing we've learned over the last two decades gathering information about the UK's epidemic of zTuberculosis, it is that s...

bovinetb.blogspot.com

 

[Timmy k]

In regards to gassing the setts I don't think it's the right thing to do. Maybe a French approach to the problem, terrier men come in, dig badger, take blood samples, send them off, job done

 

[matthew]

In regards to gassing the setts I don't think it's the right thing to do. Maybe a French approach to the problem, terrier men come in, dig badger, take blood samples, send them off, job done

You think?

Not just for Zoonotic tuberculosis ...

... are badgers controlled in other member states within the European Union. Still operating under the Berne Convention, and with closed sea...

bovinetb.blogspot.com

 

[Tarw Coch]

In regards to gassing the setts I don't think it's the right thing to do. Maybe a French approach to the problem, terrier men come in, dig badger, take blood samples, send them off, job done

Are you taking those blood tests from a live or dead badger? If live, I’d rather you than me.
If live and they come back positive what then?

 

[Jamer]

But then the silly barstewards got complacent and didn't sign up to the cull...

3rd year in.

 

[Timmy k]

You think?

Not just for Zoonotic tuberculosis ...

... are badgers controlled in other member states within the European Union. Still operating under the Berne Convention, and with closed sea...

bovinetb.blogspot.com

Yes I do, but that's my opinion

Are you taking those blood tests from a live or dead badger? If live, I’d rather you than me.
If live and they come back positive what then?

I think their dead, I read article a few months back about a group of students that went out with a badger digging team, just to see how it was done and I think they killed them and took samples, but it was a while back

 

[Tarw Coch]

In regards to gassing the setts I don't think it's the right thing to do. Maybe a French approach to the problem, terrier men come in, dig badger, take blood samples, send them off, job done

Yes I do, but that's my opinion

I think their dead, I read article a few months back about a group of students that went out with a badger digging team, just to see how it was done and I think they killed them and took samples, but it was a while back

So healthy badgers are killed, you only find out afterwards.

At least if setts were pcr tested and only positive setts gassed, healthy Badger setts would be left alone .

 

[Dry Rot]

I thought disease was usually associated with stress, e.g. over population.

Keep any of our farm livestock species in crowded conditions and problems follow?

So, don't wait for problems to arise, control the population to a healthy level first and keep it there (or below).