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News & Reports BOVINE TB
Wales reports on progress with badger vaccination A REPORT of the second year of the fiveyear badger vaccination project in Wales indicates that more than 1350 badgers were successfully trapped and vaccinated against bovine TB in 2013. The badger vaccination programme, which is the largest of its kind in Great Britain, is being carried out in an ‘intensive action area’, primarily located in north Pembrokeshire. It is one of a number of measures introduced in the area to tackle all sources of bovine TB in both domestic and wild species and aims to vaccinate as many badgers as possible within the area each year for five years. Other measures include additional cattle surveillance and controls, enhanced biosecurity measures and additional surveillance and controls on nonbovine species. In 2012, the first year of the vaccination programme, just over 1400 badgers were vaccinated (VR, February 9, 2013, vol 172, p 143). In 2013, vaccination work was carried out by 12 teams between May and November, over eight separate three- to fourweek cycles. According to the report, 1352 badgers were cage trapped and vaccinated in 2013, nearly 87 per cent of which were adults. The welfare of each animal was assessed at the time of capture and none was found to be unfit, the report says, and no badger showed any sign of an adverse reaction to the vaccine. The report notes that the project ‘is a field delivery project and, while every opportunity is taken to gather data to contribute to the evidence base, it is not intended to be an experiment or trial’. As such, the project is not investigating or assessing the effect of vaccination on badgers, or measuring the level of immunity or the impact on badger social groups. The report points out that it is not possible to determine the precise numbers of badgers within the intensive action area but, on the basis of a sett survey and published reports that badger social groups typically contain between four and eight adults, it suggests that the 260 main setts identified on the land within the intensive action area to which vaccination teams had access, could support an estimated population of approximately 1560 badgers. It also notes that the cost of the field operational phase of the second year of the project was £926,784, which was slightly less than the first year (£945,000), despite a larger area being covered. ‘The cost remains in keeping with original estimates made 390 | Veterinary Record | April 19, 2014
in March 2012,’ the report says, adding: ‘Efficiencies and savings have been achieved by applying lessons learned from the first year and through best procurement practice to secure value for money.’ The projected cost of the five-year project is in the region of £4.6 million (based on the average annual cost of years 1 and 2), it says. This estimate is ‘without any adjustment for inflation or annual uplift’. The report concludes: ‘We consider that the project continues to be successful in meeting the objective to trap and vaccinate as many badgers as possible within the intensive action area. The confirmed number of badgers caught and vaccinated in 2013 (1352) is slightly less than in 2012 (1424), although the total number caught, including recaptures, increased to 1852 from 1744 in 2012.’ Alun Davies, the Welsh minister for natural resources, commented: ‘As a government we are steadily ramping up our actions to tackle all sources of TB infection in Wales. Our vaccination projet has been designed to tackle the reservoir of infection in badgers and is aimed at developing a degree of immunity to TB within the badger population.’ Noting that participation in the programme is voluntary, he said he was pleased that operatives had gained access to more land in 2013 than they had in 2012. ‘The report also shows that the cost of the vaccination project, which has remained in keeping with the original 2012 estimate, has been maintained and that cost equates to £685 per badger. ‘We are continuing to monitor the results of vaccination, and of our whole eradication programme, carefully to ensure we are making good progress towards our ultimate goal of eradicating TB from Wales.’ The Welsh Government reports that latest figures indicate that the level of bovine TB in Wales has significantly reduced, and that new incidents of the disease ‘are down by nearly a quarter on the previous year’. n The report is available at http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/ environmentcountryside/ahw/ disease/bovinetuberculosis/intensiveaction-area/badger-vaccination-iaa/ report-year-2/?skip=1&lang=en doi: 10.1136/vr.g2654
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on June 28, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Wales reports on progress with badger vaccination Veterinary Record 2014 174: 390
doi: 10.1136/vr.g2654 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/174/16/390
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To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports BOVINE TB
Wales reports on progress with badger vaccination A REPORT of the second year of the fiveyear badger vaccination project in Wales indicates that more than 1350 badgers were successfully trapped and vaccinated against bovine TB in 2013. The badger vaccination programme, which is the largest of its kind in Great Britain, is being carried out in an ‘intensive action area’, primarily located in north Pembrokeshire. It is one of a number of measures introduced in the area to tackle all sources of bovine TB in both domestic and wild species and aims to vaccinate as many badgers as possible within the area each year for five years. Other measures include additional cattle surveillance and controls, enhanced biosecurity measures and additional surveillance and controls on nonbovine species. In 2012, the first year of the vaccination programme, just over 1400 badgers were vaccinated (VR, February 9, 2013, vol 172, p 143). In 2013, vaccination work was carried out by 12 teams between May and November, over eight separate three- to fourweek cycles. According to the report, 1352 badgers were cage trapped and vaccinated in 2013, nearly 87 per cent of which were adults. The welfare of each animal was assessed at the time of capture and none was found to be unfit, the report says, and no badger showed any sign of an adverse reaction to the vaccine. The report notes that the project ‘is a field delivery project and, while every opportunity is taken to gather data to contribute to the evidence base, it is not intended to be an experiment or trial’. As such, the project is not investigating or assessing the effect of vaccination on badgers, or measuring the level of immunity or the impact on badger social groups. The report points out that it is not possible to determine the precise numbers of badgers within the intensive action area but, on the basis of a sett survey and published reports that badger social groups typically contain between four and eight adults, it suggests that the 260 main setts identified on the land within the intensive action area to which vaccination teams had access, could support an estimated population of approximately 1560 badgers. It also notes that the cost of the field operational phase of the second year of the project was £926,784, which was slightly less than the first year (£945,000), despite a larger area being covered. ‘The cost remains in keeping with original estimates made 390 | Veterinary Record | April 19, 2014
in March 2012,’ the report says, adding: ‘Efficiencies and savings have been achieved by applying lessons learned from the first year and through best procurement practice to secure value for money.’ The projected cost of the five-year project is in the region of £4.6 million (based on the average annual cost of years 1 and 2), it says. This estimate is ‘without any adjustment for inflation or annual uplift’. The report concludes: ‘We consider that the project continues to be successful in meeting the objective to trap and vaccinate as many badgers as possible within the intensive action area. The confirmed number of badgers caught and vaccinated in 2013 (1352) is slightly less than in 2012 (1424), although the total number caught, including recaptures, increased to 1852 from 1744 in 2012.’ Alun Davies, the Welsh minister for natural resources, commented: ‘As a government we are steadily ramping up our actions to tackle all sources of TB infection in Wales. Our vaccination projet has been designed to tackle the reservoir of infection in badgers and is aimed at developing a degree of immunity to TB within the badger population.’ Noting that participation in the programme is voluntary, he said he was pleased that operatives had gained access to more land in 2013 than they had in 2012. ‘The report also shows that the cost of the vaccination project, which has remained in keeping with the original 2012 estimate, has been maintained and that cost equates to £685 per badger. ‘We are continuing to monitor the results of vaccination, and of our whole eradication programme, carefully to ensure we are making good progress towards our ultimate goal of eradicating TB from Wales.’ The Welsh Government reports that latest figures indicate that the level of bovine TB in Wales has significantly reduced, and that new incidents of the disease ‘are down by nearly a quarter on the previous year’. n The report is available at http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/ environmentcountryside/ahw/ disease/bovinetuberculosis/intensiveaction-area/badger-vaccination-iaa/ report-year-2/?skip=1&lang=en doi: 10.1136/vr.g2654
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on June 28, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Wales reports on progress with badger vaccination Veterinary Record 2014 174: 390
doi: 10.1136/vr.g2654 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/174/16/390
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
