The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced that approval has been given for bovine TB vaccine … read more

The Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued it’s response to the 2018 review into Bovine TB … read more

Research, published in the journal eLife, reports on the transmission of Tuberculosis (TB)  between cattle and badgers in Gloucestershire using … read more

A Wellcome Trust, BBSRC and Defra funded analysis of bovine Tuberculosis in cattle and badgers has exploited over fifteen years … read more

Research, published in Scientific Reports, reports a reduction in bovine TB rates in areas surrounding badger culls.   Prof Rosie … read more

Reactions to an independent review on the bovine TB strategy. read more

An independent Review of England’s bovine TB strategy was commissioned by Defra in February 2018.  The Review was published on Tuesday 13 November.   read more

The government has announced a review of it’s 25 year bovine TB strategy.  read more

Experts react to news that Natural England has granted licenses for badger control to take place in 11 new areas in England.

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Scientists publishing in Genome Biology report that they have produced cloned cattle with increased resistance to bovine TB. The researchers used the genome editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to alter the genetic code of the cattle. read more

As the government prepares to announce the widespread rollout of badger culling, intended to protect cattle from bovine tuberculosis (TB), new research, carried out by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Imperial College London and published in Ecology Letters, has looked into how often badgers and cattle meet. Badgers clearly contribute to the cattle TB problem, but how the disease transmits between the two species has remained a mystery. Using cutting-edge technology to track large numbers of badgers and cattle simultaneously, the team looked into whether and how often badgers came close enough to cattle to transmit TB directly, and whether there may be other means of transmission through contamination of the environment. read more

Writing in the journal PNAS, a group has reported the generation of a genetically modified breed of cattle which are more resistant to tuberculosis than their unmodified counterparts, a trait which could be passed onto subsequent generations. read more

A paper in Nature used models to separate out the different factors contributing to the bovine TB problem, to establish the routes of transmission of different outbreaks, and to predict which of the factors would be best to address in attempt to more effectively control the spread and incidence of this disease. read more

Bovine tuberculosis costs the UK about £100 million per year, and despite efforts to control it, it remains a major agricultural problem. A new paper published in Nature uses models to separate out the different factors contributing to the bovine TB problem, to establish the routes of transmission of different outbreaks, and to predict which of the factors would be best to address in attempt to more effectively control the spread and incidence of this disease. read more

Princess Anne is reported to have told the BBC’s Countryfile programme that gassing badgers is “the most humane way” to control their numbers. read more

In response to an Independent Expert Panel’s report on controlling bovine TB through badger culling, Environment Minister Owen Paterson announced the culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset culls would be continued over two more years with badger vaccination implemented around edges of infected areas, but no new culls would be started. read more

Nine cases of M. bovis infection, which causes bovine TB in cattle, were identified in domestic cats in Berkshire and Hampshire by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) and Public Health England (PHE) during 2013. Two people were found to have developed TB after contact with a domestic cat while two cases of latent TB were also identified. read more

The House of Commons debated whether to continue with the controversial badger culls, and overwhelmingly voted to halt the cull. read more

The BBC reported that an independent scientific assessment, commissioned by the government, of the previous year’s pilot badger culls concluded that they were not effective. read more

The long-proposed badger cull commenced in England, with controlled shootings going ahead in Somerset and Gloucestershire. read more