Sunday, August 09, 2009

Cause and effect?



Staff working at MAFF's, Defra's, CSL's, FERA's Woodchester Park (otherwise known as Badger Heaven) in the Cotswolds, are to be tested for tuberculosis, following the possible infection of personel working there - on one of these?


Gloucestershire press has details together with a picture of a 'pretty' badger. Not at all like ours, which is how they end up after enduring a long and unhappy life infected with tuberculosis. Which is of course a serious and sometimes deadly zoonosis. Which is why we should be eradicating it, from whatever source.

While we wish the person involved in the Woodchester incident a complete recovery (far from certain, even with the present cocktail of long term drugs) this incident serves to remind us all - especially Defra - of the seriousness of allowing m.bovis, the bacteria which causes tuberculosis, to become rampant in the environment.

Update.
A comment on this post indicates that the problem with Woodchester personel and exposure to badger tuberculosis (bTB) may be more widespread. Although this is unsubstantiated, we post it and would be grateful for any further information.
"What this story is missing is some key facts. Such as the person has been treated in hospital and they are testing her further. Plus another 8 people from Woodchester had tested positive for signs of TB.
Out of the 30 people tested 27 had no immunity to TB, due to no BCG being active".

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

What this story is missing is some key facts. Such as the person has been treated in hospital and they are testing her further. Plus another 8 people from Woodchester had tested positive for signs of TB.
Out of the 30 people tested 27 had no immunity to TB, due to no BCG being active.

Matthew said...

Anon. 10.25

We find it's not unusual for Defra's press releases to 'dumb down' this sort of news, or to hide behind the 'unpasteurised milk' shield.

We will put the gist of your comment up on the posting as an 'Update', albeit without an authorised source. And any further information, we would be most grateful for.

Anonymous said...

and on that BOMBSHELL we ......?

Anonymous said...

Who needs swine flu when you've got TB?

Anonymous said...

Extract from Warmwell

July 14 2009 ~"My Lords, would the Minister like to demonstrate joined-up government?"
About a month ago, a most important - although short - debate took place in the House of Lords on the subject of bovine TB. The new Minister, Lord Davies, found himself floundering. Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne felt it necessary to remind him:
".. While I appreciate that he is dealing with agriculture and the environment, none the less, given the extreme rise in the bacilli of the tuberculosis infection in the children of farmers whose farms are heavily infected with tubercular cows and killings, will he not connect with the Department of Health..."

The Countress of Mar had already reminded Lord Davies that bovine TB is not just a disease of cattle and badgers
".. It has been found in 30 different species of wildlife, including sheep, goats, pigs and camelids. With the number of bacilli expelled by badgers and cattle floating about in the atmosphere, there is a risk of it becoming a public health problem. What is the Department of Health doing to observe the atmospheric numbers of bovine TB bacilli and what precautions are being taken?"


Peter Brady
S E T T

Matthew said...

Agree with that comment Peter. This is a very serious disease, but one which is unappreciated, undocumented and very often blanket treated without records being kept. By that we mean antibiotics are prescribed for 'tuberculosis complex' without the strain typing necessary to indentify m.bovis, and thus its source.

VLA complain that information is a one way street, with confirmed cattle automatically involving Communicable Health Agency, but rarely the other way around.

As an aside, wasn't it the personel from Woodchester who were going to teach other operatives how to trap, secure, inject and mark badgers in areas of endemic TB, as part of Defra's latest 'good idea' ?

Anonymous said...

What about all the other staff that used to work for FERA / DEFRA. Are they going to be tested?

Matthew said...

Anon 7.14.
We understand from staff who have worked in this capacity, that screening Xrays used to be a regular occurence. An MOT if you like as part of their employment. As to whether that is still the case, we don't know.

Anonymous said...

I understand from contacting Rob Chilcott - a FERA spokesman based in York - that all other staff are being very comprehensively screened.

FERA/DEFRA are treating this situation as a 'Health & Safety' issue.

Peter Brady
SETT

Anonymous said...

Sorry - Anonymous 7:14 makes the point about FERA staff that used to work there.

I'll ask FERA tomorrow!

Peter
SETT

Anonymous said...

COVER-UP COMING?

If you visit the link in the article to the thisisgloucestershire website you will find that there are now only TWO comments - whereas yesterday there were THREE - the third comment was:

"What this story is missing is some key facts. Such as the person has been treated in hospital and they are testing her further. Plus another 8 people from Woodchester had tested positive for signs of TB.
Out of the 30 people tested 27 had no immunity to TB, due to no BCG being active".

Yesterday I spent some time speaking with FERA, emailing No 10 Downing Street and DEFRA Ministers and contacting BBC Farming Today.

Farming Today (Tuesday) interviewed FERA's Dr Robbie MacDonald who confirmed that ONE staff member has suspected bTB. He also mentioned that the staff 'do close up work' (with infected badgers) and are at an '"elevated risk".

By the way - How could I forget? -I forgot to say - that the above comment on the thisisgloucestershire web site has been removed !!!

Funny that isn't it

I called my FERA contact today - answerphone !

Picture the meeting as I write - No10 (Lord Mandelson)representatives + DEFRA Ministers Benn & Fitzpatrick, FERA bosses + media spin-meisters - 'how are we going to spin ourselves out of this mess Mandy?'

I'll just get my coat

Peter Brady
SETT

Anonymous said...

COVER-UP COMING? (2)

CORRECTION - TUESDAY - 11:45

I've just pasted the offending comment back on the thisisgloucestershire website with my name attached explaining that it has been removed!

Peter Brady
SETT

Anonymous said...

COVER-UP COMING (3)

Well - I'll be buggered!

I just went back to check my entry on the thisisgloucestershire website pressed function key F5 to re-transmit - and entry dissapeared before my very eyes - as if by magic

Bloody hell - I thought

Good job I saved the page - wasn't it?

So what's going on DEFRA?

Peter Brady
SETT

ps the WORD VERIFICATION is

mistryon

Anonymous said...

COVER-UP COMING? (3)

NOT COMING BUT ARRIVED !!

I reposted the offending comment and asked if the Government had requested the removal!

Went back to it 3:45 PM

ALL THREE COMMENTS REMOVED

The plot thickens does it not?

Watch this space!

Peter Brady
S E T T

Anonymous said...

I have just spoken with Rob Chilton of FERA and asked him if ex-FERA staff will be contacted in order to screen for BTB

He now says that because 'it is a very sensitive issue' he will only respond to questions raised by recognised channels.

Peter Brady
SETT

Anonymous said...

Dr Robbie McDonald is Woodchester Park's BOSS! I've just received an automatic email response from him as below

Thanks for your message titled FERA - TB. I am working overseas until the 27th August. I will be checking my email regularly and will respond to urgent matters as soon as I can.

Thank you.

Robbie McDonald


Peter Brady
S E T T

Anonymous said...

In respect of ex-FERA workers - 'anyone with any concerns or needing reassurance should contact their GP in the first instance'.

Peter Brady
SETT

Anonymous said...

Surprise, surprise this person has now been given the all clear (Dec report in several papers). Yet more scaremongering? Apparently most cases seen today of bovine TB in humans are attributable to infection picked up abroad or reactivation of infection in older people who contracted the infection before the introduction of milk pasteurisation. So just what is this huge problem we are spending so much tax payers' money on and wrecking so many farming families? From FERA spokesman "We also undertook precautionary screening of all other staff working in this specialist area and are able to rule out occupational exposure to TB in all except one case.
"One individual has been found to have a latent infection, but due to the nature of such infections, it is not possible to determine how or when the infection was acquired or whether it is human TB or bovine TB.
"This person is well, has not exhibited any clinical symptoms and is at work." If this was a bovine animal it would be killed!

angel said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Matthew said...

comment deleted - spam