Don't blame the loss of calf Bee on badger population
I have great sympathy for Katherine Bigwood at the loss of her calf Bee, but the blame for this loss cannot and should not be placed at the door of the badger population.
Any Defra official blaming the outbreak on the badger population was at best speculating and probably taking a wild guess.
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As there had been previous outbreaks of BTb on the farm, the source of the infection almost certainly lies within the herd.
Even when Defra gives an all-clear to a herd there is a fully recognised probability that infection remains in that herd due to the Government's refusal to move to the far more effective and accurate Gamma Interferon test.
Why Katherine had to lose her calf is obvious; if the animal had remained alive it would have infected others in the herd (something it has probably already done).
Also, if it had attended any shows this year, that infection could easily have been passed on to other cattle at those shows. It could even have been at one of last year's shows where Bee became infected.
Science has already shown that cattle to cattle is by far the most common route of BTb infection. Science has also shown that removal of the badger population would be ineffective in resolving the problem.
Most important, however, has been the outcome of the four counties trial in southern Ireland. In this trial, every badger within the four counties has been killed as a means of proving that badgers are the cause of BTb.
What has actually happened? BTb outbreaks have continued to rise even though there are no badgers to blame.
When will the farming community realise it is not a scapegoat they require, but an acceptance of the facts? With that will come a means of resolving the problem.
Malcolm Clark Wiltshire Badger Group
3 Comments
by Katherine Bigwood, Somerset
Saturday, January 31 2009, 6:26PM
“I am confused, please may you explain to me why the badger protection group are against culling diseased animals with TB, when they will have a long and painful death anyway. To my mind, surely if the animals have the disease the most humane way of killing them would be to shot them, just like you do with cattle.”
by Charles Henry, Somerset
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 2:19PM
“Badger cull has desired effect in Ireland. 17/O7/2008
The incidence of bovine TB in the Republic of Ireland continues to decline, as the department of agriculture in Dublin presses on with its cull of infected badgers.
A government spokeswoman explained that, even though there had been a slight increase in 2007, this was because the level of testing had increased substantially following the opening of a new laboratory in Sligo. Slaughterhouse inspection procedures had also improved.
"With TB you should never look at one year in isolation, as there are so many pieces that go together," she said. "It's best to look at five year trends and that shows a steady fall in TB."
For example, in 1998 the number of TB reactors came to 45,000, but by 2003 had dropped to 28,000. In 2006 there was a further fall to 24,000, though last year it was up to 28,000. Disease incidence stands at about 6% of herds tested, compared with 8.2% in the peak year of 2000.
The Irish government is adamant that badger culling is a key factor in containing the disease. "Elsewhere in the world, the tuberculin test provides all the control necessary to get on top of TB. Only in Ireland and GB, where there is also a wildlife challenge, is there a problem."
In New Zealand, for example, TB had been contained when possums - the common vector - were culled, while in Australia it was wild buffalo that had been taken out.
Badger culling is strictly controlled in the Republic of Ireland. It is only triggered where, following an outbreak, an epidemiological study implicates badgers as the likely source, not cattle.
The spokeswoman insisted there was no plan to cull out all the badgers in an area - merely to reduce the population and so reduce contact opportunities, until such time as a vaccine was available.”
by Charles Henry, Somerset
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 1:18PM
“And now we are even being told that every badger in Southern Ireland has been exterminated. .
And of course EU corruption has never existed in that part of Europe. . You couldn't make it up. .”