Farmer-led badger vaccination trial raises hopes for tackling bovine TB

A small-scale badger vaccination trial led by farmers in Cornwall raises hopes it could help tackle the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), a study says.

The four-year scheme suggests badger vaccination on 12 farms, which was initiated by a farmer who approached the local wildlife trust about badger vaccination as an alternative to culling, shows it can be “practicable, technically effective, and acceptable to farmers”.

Blood testing of badgers –  which can spread bTB to cattle – alongside vaccinations showed those testing positive for the disease fell from 16% at the beginning of the scheme to 0% by the end.

The team behind the project were able to administer jabs to more badgers per square kilometre than were captured in a nearby cull, with separate counts from camera traps suggesting nearly three quarters (74%) of local badgers received the vaccine.

And the farmers involved reported increased enthusiasm for vaccination as tool for controlling bTB, with interviews as part of the study finding they were keen to continue vaccination beyond the original four years.

Bovine TB is recognised as a problem which “devastates” farm businesses, and badger culling has long been a part of the government response to the disease, despite criticism from wildlife and animal welfare campaigners.

In 2022, cull licences covered nearly a quarter (24%) of England’s land area, but the previous government announced its intention to scale back badger culling and expand vaccination following an independent scientific review, the study said.

And the new Labour Government has pledged to “work with farmers and scientists on measures to eradicate Bovine TB, protecting livelihoods, so that we can end the ineffective badger cull”.

Farmers remain sceptical about the role of vaccination, with concerns it might not be effective, as it might reach too few badgers at too high a cost.

This attitude has “some justification”, the study authors said, as the process has not been subject to the same large-scale evaluation as badger culling.

This raises questions about the viability of government plans to expand vaccination, with the potential for small scale illegal culling which can actually worsen the spread of the disease, the study warned.

But the vaccination scheme in Cornwall, initiated by farmers and implemented by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Imperial College London, raises hopes it could be used as an important tool for controlling the disease.

The team behind the study say larger scale assessments of the impact of badger vaccination on disease rates in cattle are needed, and are calling on the Government to support further evaluations of community-led badger trials.

Professor Rosie Woodroffe, project lead and researcher at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology said: “Bovine tuberculosis can devastate farmers’ livelihoods, and hundreds of thousands of cattle and badgers have been slaughtered for bTB control in recent years.

“Everyone wants to see this disease eradicated.

“Our hope is that this work will help to move bTB control into a place where farmers and wildlife groups can work together towards this shared goal.”

Keith Truscott, founder of the Mid Cornwall Badger Vaccination Farmers Group and senior author on the report said: “We need a solution to tackle bovine tuberculosis – as a cattle farmer, I’m living with the constant worry that one of our cows might test positive for the disease, so doing nothing is not an option.

“I sleep better at night knowing that there are people out there working to eradicate the disease through vaccination.

“I’m proud to be part of this project, and even more so to have instigated it.”

Commenting on the research, Prof Malcolm Bennett, professor of zoonotic and emerging disease at the University of Nottingham, said: “This is an important study, that fits with other evidence of the efficacy of badger vaccination and, importantly, shows that vaccination of badgers is practicable and acceptable in areas where bovine TB is endemic.

“Now is the time for further, bigger trials.

“Coming soon after other studies showing that vaccination of cattle, if carried out over several years, can also be effective, maybe things are finally looking up for badgers, cattle and farmers.”

– The study, which was co-authored by scientists, conservationists and farmers, is published in the journal People and Nature.