Controlling

Bovine TB
Issue
Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease,
which mainly affects cattle. It can infect many
other species of mammals, though only a handful
(including badgers in parts
of Great Britain) can actively
spread the disease.
The scale of infection and
the cost make bovine TB one
of the biggest challenges
that the cattle farming
industry faces, particularly in
the west and south west of England. Elsewhere in
England the infection in cattle has been virtually
eliminated, although sporadic cases occur, usually
linked to movements of cattle from areas where
the disease is more widespread.
The risk to public health is very low these days.
This is largely due to milk pasteurization and to the
early identification of cattle with TB on farms and
at abattoirs.
Nevertheless, we need to eradicate bovine TB, to
support the food and farming industries and to
reduce the costs to both farmers and taxpayers.

Actions

Our aim is to achieve officially TB free Status for

England, in line with our bovine TB Strategy for
England and the wider UK Bovine Tuberculosis
Eradication Programme.
This includes:
Reducing bovine TB through controls on cattle,

including testing cattle herds for bovine TB, and

controlling TB in herds when it is detected
Controlling the disease in badgers
Improving biosecurity and husbandry on farms
Developing TB vaccines for cattle
Vaccinating badgers against TB
Helping other industry sectors to deal with TB in
non -bovine species.
A badger with TB
can infect
ways.

cattle in several

The primary route is inhalation,

with cattle breathing in the
bacteria from the air.
However, infection from cows
eating contaminated material is
also an important route.
Clinical sampling of live badgers
has shown that bTB bacteria
can be isolated from sputum,
feces, urine, bite wounds and
draining abscesses. Badger
latrine sites, where badgers
urinate or defecate in fields, can
contaminate grass with bacteria,
which can then be transmitted
to the cows when they graze.
Similarly, badgers mark their territory by urinating and
this is often spread across cattle pastures.

If a badger has TB infection in its kidneys it will excrete a

very high level of TB bacteria on to the grass. If an
infected badger eats or drinks from cattle feed or water
troughs, they can spread TB bacteria through their saliva,
which infects the cows when they eat or drink from these
contaminated sources.
Infected badgers can also spread the bacteria through
open cuts and wounds.

The major cause of badger deaths - 50,000 each year

according to the Badger Trust - is road accidents.
However, in the hotspot areas, up to one in three badgers
are estimated to have bovine TB (source: Independent
Scientific Group on Cattle TB).
Badgers spend most of their life below ground sharing the
same air space, tunnels and chambers, which provides the
perfect environment for the disease to spread within a
social group.
As in cattle, the disease affects the lungs, but also the
kidneys. Infected badgers experience more extensive
development of TB lesions than cattle, and infected
animals will lose weight and body condition and
experience severe breathing problems, which limit their
ability to forage normally.
However, it has been shown that badgers can go through
a period of 'latency' when the disease is present but
makes little progress and it is their ability to live with the
disease and to pass it on readily within the confines of
their setts to other badgers and to cattle at pasture and
around farm buildings that makes the badger an almost
perfect host for bTB.