tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885842.post372495459917309424..comments2023-07-15T10:28:46.810+01:00Comments on Bovine TB: Spokes.... and wheels.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02561483930556493363noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885842.post-64171727048353207622009-11-10T08:30:45.422+00:002009-11-10T08:30:45.422+00:00Anon 4.58
We've seen this extraordinarily bad,...Anon 4.58<br />We've seen this extraordinarily bad, muddled and misleading report in the Irish times..<br /><br />Will post on it later. But you will note from that they report that the 20 percent drop in cattle reactors is primarily from reactive culling of badgers in response to cattle TB. Badgers whose infection rate is up to 40 percent.<br /><br />And the vax project ? (Small and local)<br />"A statement from the department said the research project with <br />University College Dublin and the UK government's department of <br />agriculture on the efficacy of an orally delivered vaccine to badgers is <br />"showing promising results".<br /> (As in, barely started, not on a wide scale and not been going long enough to deliver much at all?)<br /><br />"If the field trial is successful and subsequently a national badger <br />vaccination strategy is adopted, the need to remove TB-infected badgers <br />will reduce as tuberculosis levels falls in both cattle and badgers.<br /><br />"However, it will be some time before the benefits of a vaccine can be <br />seen, and it is envisaged that the existing strategy will remain in <br />place for some time."<br /><br />(See what we mean? "It will be some time before benefits of vaccine can be seen".<br /><br />It is not the vaccine policy which has delivered the drop. Which from reading the headline, a reader may not understand.<br /><br />Badly skewed copy.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09293505337441558637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885842.post-25220991669973417322009-11-09T16:58:59.905+00:002009-11-09T16:58:59.905+00:00Number of cattle with TB down 20%
Monday, Novembe...Number of cattle with TB down 20%<br /><br />Monday, November 2, 2009<br />www.irishtimes.com<br />http://preview.tinyurl.com/yffl5et<br /><br /><br />SEÁN Mac CONNELL Agriculture Correspondent<br /><br />NEW FIELD trials to stop the spread of TB in cattle by vaccinating <br />badgers rather than exterminating them is showing good results, <br />according to the Department of Agriculture.<br /><br />The number of Irish cattle affected by bovine TB has fallen by nearly 20 <br />per cent this year.<br /><br />The latest figures from the Department of Agriculture have also shown a <br />significant fall in the number of "reactor" cattle this year up to the <br />end of October.<br /><br />In areas where the department killed off the badger population, the <br />incidence of bovine TB dropped in the cattle herds, but this has caused <br />outrage in animal welfare circles.<br /><br />Badgers killed in the field trials carried out in areas where there have <br />been high levels of TB in cattle have been found to have TB infection <br />levels as high as 40 per cent.<br /><br />A statement from the department said the research project with <br />University College Dublin and the UK government's department of <br />agriculture on the efficacy of an orally delivered vaccine to badgers is <br />"showing promising results".<br /><br />"If the field trial is successful and subsequently a national badger <br />vaccination strategy is adopted, the need to remove TB-infected badgers <br />will reduce as tuberculosis levels falls in both cattle and badgers.<br /><br />"However, it will be some time before the benefits of a vaccine can be <br />seen, and it is envisaged that the existing strategy will remain in <br />place for some time."<br /><br />The battle to control the disease has intensified following the <br />announcement some days ago by the EU that it has recognised Scotland as <br />being free from the disease, giving it a trade competitive advantage. <br />This was awarded because 99.9 per cent of herds in Scotland achieved <br />TB-free status for six consecutive years.<br /><br />In the Republic the number of herds restricted for TB was 5.9 per cent <br />of herds tested in 2008. England, Wales and Northern Ireland have <br />similar problems eradicating the disease.<br /><br />Third-quarter figures showed the number of so-called reactors -- cattle <br />which fail the test -- has fallen to 18,237 compared to 22,997 reactor <br />cattle in the same period in 2008.<br /><br />The figures reflect an improving situation in the 50-year fight to rid <br />the national cattle herd of the disease which has cost the Irish <br />taxpayer an estimated EUR1.5 billion and the industry probably twice <br />that figure.<br /><br />This article appears in the print edition of the Irish TimesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com