Disease Status
5.4 Million – total number of TB tests on cattle in England in 2010
25,000 – approximate number of cattle slaughtered for TB control in England in 2010
3,622 – number of new TB incidents in 2010. This is a 7.5% increase on 2009 (herds where at least one animal tests positive for bovine TB, when the herd had previously been TB free)
10.8% of cattle farms in England were under cattle movement restrictions at some point in 2010 due to a TB incident.
22.7% of cattle farms in the South-West were under cattle movement restrictions in 2010
£500 million – the amount it’s cost the taxpayer to combat the disease in England in the last 10 years
£1 billion – what it will cost over the next decade without taking further action
£90 million – amount Defra spent on TB control in England during 2010/11, including £6.9 million on TB Research & Development
£30,000 - the average cost of a TB breakdown on a farm, of which around £10,000 of this falls to the farmer
Badgers
250,000-300,000 – the number of badgers in Great Britain according to national population surveys carried out in the 1980s and 1990s.
190,000 - estimated number of badgers in England according to 1995 JNCC report. The current population is likely to be considerably larger.
Between the last two national badger surveys (mid 80s and mid 90s) the population grew by 77 per cent, despite 50,000 badgers being killed on the roads each year.
30-75% – estimated proportion of cattle breakdowns due to badgers, depending on local circumstances
28.3% – the average beneficial effect in proactively culled areas from the Randomised Badger Culling Trial up to July 2010.
But when you take account of the negative impacts from perturbation the average net reduction in confirmed TB incidents after culling is 16%, which is the equivalent of preventing 47 out of 292 cattle herd breakdowns.
Vaccination
£30 million – Defra investment in cattle and badger vaccination since 1997
£20 million – the planned investment in further vaccine development over the next 5 years
The first injectable badger vaccine (Badger BCG) was licensed in March 2010
Vaccinating badgers costs an average of £2,250 per km2 per year
Unknown – the time it will take to see a beneficial effect in cattle from badger vaccination.
Unknown – the time it will take for an oral badger vaccine or a cattle vaccine to be licensed and deployed.