BVA criticises conclusions drawn from badger vaccination report

2011 ◽  
Vol 169 (17) ◽  
pp. 425-425 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Badger Vaccination

scholarly journals Simulating the next steps in badger control for bovine tuberculosis in England

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248426
Author(s):  
Graham C. Smith ◽  
Richard Budgey
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Model ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fertility Control ◽  
Host Population ◽  
Dramatic Reduction ◽  
Control Option ◽  
Badger Vaccination ◽  
The Uk

Industry-led culling of badgers has occurred in England to reduce the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle for a number of years. Badger vaccination is also possible, and a move away from culling was “highly desirable” in a recent report to the UK government. Here we used an established simulation model to examine badger control option in a post-cull environment in England. These options included no control, various intermittent culling, badger vaccination and use of a vaccine combined with fertility control. The initial simulated cull led to a dramatic reduction in the number of infected badgers present, which increased slowly if there was no further badger management. All three approaches led to a further reduction in the number of infected badgers, with little to choose between the strategies. We do note that of the management strategies only vaccination on its own leads to a recovery of the badger population, but also an increase in the number of badgers that need to be vaccinated. We conclude that vaccination post-cull, appears to be particularly effective, compared to vaccination when the host population is at carrying capacity.

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