Wildlife Trusts have started vaccinating badgers to stop the spread of bovine TB in 'edge areas' to manage the disease without the need for culling.
The scheme is now underway again, one year after vaccine supplies dried up.
In December 2015, the World Health Organization announced that there was a global shortage of TB vaccine for humans.
This meant that The Wildlife Trusts had to suspend their badger vaccination programmes during 2016.
Now a new supply of vaccine has been obtained by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust following several months negotiating supplies and obtaining permission from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to import the InterVax TB vaccine.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Chair and veterinary surgeon, Dr Sue Mayer, who secured the vaccine from a Canadian company has also been training twelve volunteers in how to use the new vaccine delivery system.
'Better solution than culling'
Thirty badgers have already been successfully vaccinated, including twelve badger cubs, and the next round of vaccinations is due to start today (6 July).
Vaccine from the same source was used to successfully vaccinate badgers in the Republic of Ireland in 2016.
Dr Mayer said: “Vaccination is a better solution than culling which research indicates can spread the disease further. It’s also cheaper and avoids the indiscriminate killing of healthy animals.”
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has been carrying out the badger vaccination programme across Derbyshire since 2014 – working with farmers and landowners.
The Trust wish to show that a successful programme of badger vaccination can be achieved in partnership with the help of trained volunteers.
DWT’s badger vaccination programme has been developed in partnership with the National Trust, National Farmers Union (NFU), Derbyshire’s Badger Groups and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).
Building TB immunity
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have also obtained doses of the InterVax vaccine and will begin vaccinating badgers on a large area on the Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire border imminently.
Working with local landowners, they have now surveyed around 60 farms, over an area of more than 50km2.
Traps have been placed out on participating farms with the help of 40 volunteers in order to target badgers from around 20 active setts.
Vaccination will continue until Autumn and will build on previous work which began in 2015 to build TB immunity in Nottinghamshire’s badgers.
BBOWT’s badger vaccination programme is resuming in early July, and will continue through the remainder of the vaccination season, which runs until November.
Badgers will be trapped and vaccinated in a 15km2 project area around their nature reserve at Greenham Common in West Berkshire, before the team moves to the nature reserves in west Oxfordshire.
Defra has said it is committed in securing vaccine for badger vaccination programmes in 2018.
Wales suspended its vaccination programme at the end of 2015. Wales will now use regional zoning to continue its efforts to defeat bovine TB, the government confirmed last month.
