I’m fed up with talking about the weather, but I can console myself with the fact we have grabbed every opportunity so far and progress is not too bad.£600,000 study will assess attitudes towards badger vaccination
DEFRA’S badger vaccination project is to be accompanied a £620,000 research project into farmer attitudes towards it.
The four-year, Defra-funded study will assess the level of farmer confidence in the use of vaccination before, during and after vaccine deployment. It will also identify ‘motivators and barriers’ that could influence the future use of TB vaccines.
The work will be led by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI), a collaboration between the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England, Royal Agricultural College and Hartpury College.
Defra’s Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (BVDP), due to be launched this summer, will tale place in six TB hotspot locations of England – two in Devon, two in Gloucestershire, one in Staffordshire and one on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border.
Farms representing an equivalent of 100sq.km will be recruited in each area. Around 600 had been signed up at the last count.
The social research will begin with a ‘baseline study’ of 75 farmers in eight separate areas before the vaccine is rolled out this summer, asking farmers their views on vaccination as a means of dealing with bovine TB.
Once the programme is underway, smaller groups of farmers, vets and Animal Health Officers will be questioned in each area on how they have found the process and whether their views have changed over time and why.
Dr Damian Maye, who is leading the study, said: “The bovine TB problem is seriously affecting the livestock industry and there are a lot of strong views amongst the farming community on the issue of bovine TB and whether culling or vaccination is the best way forward.
“Over the life of the project we will be able to build up a picture of attitudes which may affect farmers’ future use of bovine TB vaccines and what lessons can be learned and practical know-how developed to inform the future use of (injectable and oral) badger vaccines.”
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Readers' comments (1)
Sally | 9 April 2010 7:46 pm
We need to be able to vaccinate our cattle against bTB and the 'crisis' will be over but when will we be able to do this? What I find of greatest concern about this whole issue is that so many people fail to question the basics of the whole bTB programme. There are far more questions than answers (see www.bovinetb.co.uk) - many of these are fundamentals and if they cannot be answered then the existing policy is suspect. There are, of course, sectors that have significant financial interests in seeing the existing regime continue. However, have we now got to the stage where the detrimental affects on both humans and animals as a result of existing policy are far worse than the risk of the disease itself. It has been refreshing to see that scientists are beginning to question the current policy. ‘Public Health and bovine tuberculosis – what’s all the fuss about’ is a recently published report by Dr Paul R Torgerson and Professor David J Torgenson. It is a very well researched and referenced, concluding that bTB control in cattle is irrelevant as a public health policy and there is little evidence either for a positive cost benefit in terms of animal health of bTB control. It suggests that such evidence is required; otherwise there is little justification for the large sums of money spent on bTB control in the UK. We already have reports that conclude culling of badgers is not good value for money and yet no financial analysis of the existing programme has been undertaken - despite the huge costs to the taxpayer. A radical re-think is needed.
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