Badgers and TB

stripee · #41 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremiah

Yes, it was a scourge, and overcrowded living conditions made it spread.
And TB is one of those bugs that turns into a spore when the going gets tough and could be anywhere sitting around waiting.

As for people spreading it - suppose a vet goes to a farm, tests a herd, gets breathed on, hair, clothes, hands, equipment, anything. Then goes to the next farm - unless he scrubs from head to toe or maybe wears one of those space-suits - how can you guarantee he's not exposing the next herd to possible infection? And if just exposure triggers an immune response, the cows don't have to be diseased, just exposed, and the herd gets culled, doesn't it?

With foot and mouth you get the disinfectant foot baths etc, but does anything like that happen in TB hotspots?

Not in West Wales, the Intensive Treatment Area set up in 2006 in Pembs/Carms showed a lack of understanding of disease transmission amongst many of the participants. It's conclusions are available with Google search.
There is so much more to know, and by concentrating on badgers, much time has been lost.

stripee · #42 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digit

I don't know how vets handle the situation Jeremiah but DEFRA's advice for dealing with dead and possibly infected Badgers advises of the risks.
Also Badger urine is apparently extremely infectious, so I wonder if farmers and walkers inadvertently treading in it will spread the disease.
The subject tends to generate more heat than light I fear.

Roy.

What about infected slurry spread on the fields.

Digit · #43 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 01:09 PM

Good point.

Roy.

stripee · #44 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digit

That's in cattle Stripee, no mention in Badgers, and coincidentally those figures start to rise as soon as the government protected the Badger.
Whether that actually proves anything or not I don't know.

Roy.

There is a graph either on DEFRA or Vetlink, can't remember where now, you can try to find it. Shows the steep rise of bovine TB cases from 2004. The year of foot and mouth disease. Many herds were not tested during this period and infection went undetected. Add to this the re-stocking of lost cattle to FMD.
Whether or not a badger cull will make the required difference is disputed, Digit. And if by some chance it doesn't, then answers will have to be sought elsewhere.

Digit · #45 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 02:30 PM

That is indeed so Stripee, and the fact that the government is proceeding with a cull under controlled conditions simply demonstrates that neither side of the debate has all the answers I think.

Roy.

stripee · #46 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 02:37 PM

Will leave it there for now Digit. But I do wonder how the WAG will assess the cull and its benefits when it is combined with these other measures which are not applied outside the ITA.