Badger 'Food Raids are TB Risk'

June 27, 2002

Tuberculosis is being spread to cattle by badgers sharing their food troughs, scientists have warned.

Researchers filmed badgers eating cattle feed on two farms in England, in a report for the Royal Society.

Farmers are being urged to improve security in their livestock sheds to stop the threat of the disease spreading.

The farming industry believes badgers should be culled for spreading tuberculosis to cattle, but the practice is criticised by conservationists who challenge claims of a link between the two.

Contaminated feed

Scientists filmed the badgers at night foraging in barns and sharing food with the cows on the two farms in Gloucestershire.

The BBC's environment correspondent Tom Heap says the badgers were seen eating cattle feed and silage.

He says the food then became mixed with badger urine and faeces, which contain high levels of the TB bacteria.

TB in cattle - known as bovine TB - results in the animal being slaughtered and the farmer facing restrictions on the movement of the herd.

The Royal Society study does not provide any evidence to prove badgers are to blame for the spread of bovine TB.

In 1998, the Krebs trial - which is still ongoing - was set up in England to look at the effect culling badgers makes on the spread of bovine TB.

This highlights the increase in badger activities that we have seen in recent years

Jan Rowe, NFU It also collates data on the disease in wild animals.

In previous studies of livestock in pasture, it was suggested that cattle did not mix with badgers, avoiding areas soiled with their waste.

Scientists believe that contaminated feed could be the most likely route of infection.

Farmers say this shows how badgers can spread TB to their animals, so a widespread cull should now be allowed.

But conservationists still question whether badgers spread the bacteria to cows in the first place.


'Proper strategy'

Jan Rowe, National Farmers' Union animal health and welfare vice chairman, welcomed the Royal Society report.

It makes sense to minimise direct contact between badgers and cattle

Elliot Morley, Animal Health Minister She said: "This highlights the increase in badger activities that we have seen in recent years.

"It also demonstrates that we need the results of the Krebs trial swiftly so that work can begin on a proper strategy to eradicate bovine tuberculosis."

The NFU estimates TB infection in cattle costs the UK's agriculture industry around £60m a year.


'Simple and effective'

Animal Health Minister Elliot Morley said: "It makes sense to minimise direct contact between badgers and cattle.

"Securing farm buildings adequately, especially food stores and cattle housing, to prevent wildlife entering is a simple and effective measure that can be applied quickly at little extra cost."

He said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had issued farmers with guidance on good husbandry practices to help minimise the spread of TB.

Ben Garnett, one of the scientists behind the Royal Society research, said: "This study has provided some exciting insights into the potential paths for TB transmission from badgers to cattle, and suggests that changes to farm husbandry may be one strategy that farmers could adopt to reduce the risk of infection."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2068000/2068846.stm