Benn announces badger vaccine
The first vaccine against bovine tuberculosis in badgers will be used in the field in England next year, the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced today.
The vaccine will be used in six areas of up to 100km² where there is a high incidence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. Vaccination will start in 2010 and continue for at least five years.
Mr Benn said: "Developing an effective vaccine for bovine TB is only half the challenge. The other is to deploy it effectively. This project will help us do that. As such it marks real progress in our fight against this terrible disease."
Defra will begin to sign up participants and train personnel during 2009, with vaccination expected to begin in summer 2010 (more here). In July last year the government pledged £20 million would be spent on this research area during the next three years to strengthen the prospects of successfully developing a usable vaccine.
Government figures to the end of November 2008 indicate that almost 40,000 cattle were lost to the disease in 2008 alone and it is still increasing in its incidence. The NFU is supportive of the use and development of a badger vaccine as a long term additional tool in the fight against bTB. Cattle vaccines are not likely to be available until 2016 at the earliest.
NFU comment
"The development of a TB vaccine for both cattle and badgers has been a long time coming and NFU is pleased to see real progress in this area. It means an end to the ’10 years’ timescale quoted for so long.
"There are major hurdles to overcome in terms of practicality, cost, trust and legislation, and this protocol project is an important exercise in providing guidance and solutions to some of these hurdles.
"Trade implications and legislative barriers must be considered and dealt with to ensure that our cattle farmers, who are already disadvantaged by this pernicious and devastating disease, do not loose out further among our European and global trading partners.
"Vaccination on its own will not stem the progression of bTB. It can only be seen as one of the tools in the box - a component of a multifaceted approach to TB eradication."
