A consultation on
the next phase of the Government’s strategy to eradicate
bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in England by 2038 was launched
today (27 January) by Environment Secretary .
Bovine tuberculosis is one of the most difficult and
intractable animal health challenges that England faces
today. In the last year, over 27,000 cattle in England have
had to be slaughtered to tackle the disease, causing
significant distress to farming communities.
The eight-week consultation seeks views on a range of
proposals following the Government’s
response to an independent review of its 25 year bTB
strategy, led by Professor Sir Charles Godfray.
These include plans to stop issuing intensive cull licences
for new areas after 2022 and would enable new licences to
be cut short after two or three years based on a review of
the latest scientific evidence at that time.
Under the new proposals, any new supplementary cull
licences - which are granted in regions after intensive
culls are complete - would be restricted to two years and
would not be reissued afterwards. The Government will also
be seeking to accelerate the deployment of a cattle vaccine
and to support badger vaccination in areas that have
completed culls as an alternative to supplementary culling.
The Government’s response to the Godfray Review outlined
the need for a combined approach which includes improved
cattle movement controls, improved diagnostic tests and
cattle vaccination to eradicate the disease in England by
2038.
Last summer, the Government announced the plan for
world-leading bovine
tuberculosis (bTB) TB cattle vaccination trials in England
and Wales following a major breakthrough by government
scientists on a potential new TB test. These trials, which
will get underway in the coming months, will enable work to
accelerate towards planned deployment of a cattle vaccine
by 2025.
A deployable cattle vaccine will be a powerful tool in the
fight against bTB and would provide another major step
forward in the government’s strategy to phase out intensive
culling. A programme of detailed badger surveillance and
genome sequencing is underway, meaning that it has already
been made possible to move away from culling to vaccination
in part of one area this year.
The Government is also calling for views on possible future
measures to accelerate bTB eradication in England, such as
further improvements to testing, encouraging increased
uptake of farm biosecurity measures and supporting
responsible cattle movements.
Environment Secretary said:
Bovine TB is a slow-moving and insidious disease that
causes devastation for farmers as they suffer the loss of
highly prized animals and valued herds.
Our badger control policy has helped to turn the tide on
this disease but no wants to continue the cull of badgers
for a moment longer than necessary.
We are working to accelerate other elements of our
strategy to improve diagnostics and develop a deployable
cattle vaccine so that we can phase out the culling of
badgers.
The government has awarded £500,000
grant funding for projects that develop new tools to
diagnose bTB in cattle. The programme, run by Defra on
behalf of England, Scotland and Wales, will fund innovative
research projects using cutting-edge technologies such as
machine learning aimed at detecting infection in cattle
herds faster.
The consultation can be accessed here.
