Bovine TB: tests for badger vaccine

TRIALS will start next year on a new vaccine which could be the solution to one of the bitterest rural disputes in recent years – the charge and counter charge that badgers are spreading TB to cattle.

Bovine TB, mainly concentrated in South West England but now spreading north, has been at the centre of an angry row between farmers and animal lovers for several years, with demands for a large scale cull of tens of thousands of one of England’s most popular wild mammals.

Farmers claim that the badgers spread the disease to cattle but conservation bodies like the RSPCA say that it is the other way round: cattle spread the disease to badgers.

Environment Secretary Hillary Benn has already rejected widespread calls for a huge badger cull – much to the anger of farmers and landowners – and at the weekend it was announced that trials will start on a new badger vaccine which has been developed at a cost of £23 million.

The announcement received a cool welcome from the Country Land and Business Association, which issued a statement saying it was “pleased” with the announcement but warned:”Bovine TB vaccine alone won’t ease the farmers’ plight.”

CLA President Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said: “We are pleased the Government is at last doing something to deal with the immense problem caused by bovine TB. Many cattle farmers have been financially and emotionally crippled by the effect of the disease and are desperate for help from the Government.

“However, this vaccine is never going to be a complete solution. It is vital that the Government does not use it as an excuse to close the door on the other options for dealing with the disease.”