Bovine TB: Badger vaccination faces its defining test

Defra’s decision to expand badger vaccination and wind down intensive culling marks one of the most significant shifts in bovine TB policy for a decade.

Beginning early next year, a new contract to deliver a “Badger Vaccinator Field Force” will replace intensive, farmer-led badger culls, as part of a refreshed strategy aimed at eradicating TB in England by 2038.

Since 2013, about 250,000 badgers and 274,000 TB-infected cattle have been culled, yet the disease still costs taxpayers over £100m a year.

See also: Bovine TB: 2038 eradication goal achievable with bold action

Signs of change appeared in 2024, when badger culling fell 12% while 4,110 badgers were vaccinated – a 24% rise and the highest annual total since the programme began in 2010.

Defra said 2024 was “a record year for badger vaccination”, and it concluded that non-lethal methods can now be deployed at meaningful scale.

By 2026, the current intensive culling policy is set to end, with greater focus on vaccination, enhanced cattle testing, stronger on-farm biosecurity, and risk-based cattle trading.

Wildlife groups have hailed the shift as a “turning point”, but the NFU insists the government “must follow the science and evidence” and “use all the tools in the toolbox” to combat TB.

That tension frames the rollout of the most ambitious wildlife vaccination scheme ever attempted in the UK.

A new national contract

Under a Defra tender issued in September, Defra is seeking one or more organisations to deliver and co-ordinate badger vaccination across parts of England’s High-Risk and Edge Areas most affected by TB.

The successful contractor – yet to be announced – will recruit and manage local delivery partners, oversee training, ensure quality control, and provide detailed reporting to Defra.

Central to the plan is a professionally co-ordinated Badger Vaccinator Field Force – trained teams tasked with trapping, vaccinating and releasing badgers.

The model draws on the Vaccinating East Sussex Badgers scheme managed by Cliffe Farm Vets, where around 100 farmers, landowners and smallholders have led vaccination across 250sq km since 2021.

Over the next three years, Defra aims to establish nine new vaccination zones of similar scale in areas with persistent or rising TB rates.

It acknowledges that operational adjustments may be needed as TB “hotspots” shift and badger populations fluctuate.

Cornish project

Meanwhile, the NFU and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are running a three-year vaccination project with farmers in Cornwall.

This builds on a four-year pilot that reduced badger TB prevalence in the study area from 16% to zero.

Rosie Woodroffe, project lead and researcher at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, says:

“Badgers play a small but important role in transmitting bovine TB to cattle, so it’s great to see badger vaccination being rolled out as part of efforts to eliminate this terrible disease.

“The Godfray Review emphasised the importance of ‘learning by doing’, and rolling out badger vaccination at this scale should help familiarise farmers with the vaccination approach.”

In Wales, badger vaccination has been part of the TB Eradication Programme since 2012.

While no grants are currently available, the Welsh government says future funding is under consideration and landowners can still organise vaccination independently.

In contrast to farmer-led culls, vaccination in England’s target areas will be fully funded by government.

A Defra spokesperson says the initiative “will drive down TB rates and protect farming businesses, alongside ongoing work to develop a cattle vaccine”.

Vaccination evidence

Defra says the decision to expand badger vaccination is grounded in a growing body of research.

Studies have shown that vaccination can reduce the proportion of badgers testing positive for TB by up to 76%.

When more than a third of a social group is vaccinated, unvaccinated cubs become up to 79% less likely to test positive.

Modelling by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and research from Ireland indicate that vaccinating more than 30% of a badger population should reduce infection rates.

It found that the reinfection rate dropping below 1, meaning that the rate of new infections will decline.

The chosen BadgerBCG vaccine, produced by Danish firm AJ Vaccines and based on the same strain used in humans, does not cure TB in infected badgers, but significantly reduces both the risk and severity of infection.

There is still no direct UK field evidence that vaccinating badgers reduces TB in cattle.

However, Defra points to Irish findings suggesting vaccination is not inferior to culling in long-term disease reduction.

The government argues that, combined with improved cattle controls, vaccination can now play a meaningful role in its multi-species strategy.

Field operations

Following a survey of the land where the farmer has given a Land Access Agreement to vaccinate badgers, pre-baiting will take place, typically for around seven days to establish where badgers are currently active.

Approved cages can then be placed in optimal locations, and when weather conditions are suitable, the cages are set live to trap badgers on a maximum of two consecutive nights.

Only people that have completed approved training are licensed to set traps and vaccinate, mark and release badgers for badger vaccination.

All vaccination activities need to be accurately recorded, either on an interactive app or using paper records.

Refreshed TB strategy

Defra tells Farmers Weekly its refreshed bovine TB strategy is progressing “at pace”.

The approach combines badger vaccination with strengthened cattle controls, improved diagnostics, enhanced surveillance and tighter farm biosecurity.

Key elements include accelerated trials of the CattleBCG vaccine and accompanying “Diva” diagnostic test, now in the third phase of field trials, but not expected for commercial rollout before 2029 at the very earliest; improved surveillance such as whole-genome sequencing to trace infection pathways; and incentives for herds maintaining “low-risk” status.

Farmer attitudes

Farmer attitudes towards the new direction remains mixed. Some welcome badger vaccination as a humane alternative, but sceptics argue its success must be judged on clear outcomes such as fewer TB herd breakdowns, fewer reactors and reduced movement restrictions.

The NFU has long called for a clear, cost-benefit analysis of badger vaccination as well as a demonstration that it is deployable at scale.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw says: “We hope the Badger Vaccination Field Force project will help to build understanding of the role badger vaccines can play alongside other disease control measures.

“The NFU’s strong view remains that all tools are part of an effective bovine TB eradication strategy.”

Others urge farmers to engage.

Derbyshire vet Sarah Tomlinson, technical director of the TB Advisory Service, says: “Badger vaccination has had a bad press and because it was used as an anti-cull tool, farmers are quite sceptical about it.

“After more than a decade of culling and reduced badger populations, we’re in a very different place now.

“My aspiration for the Badger Vaccinator Field Force would be that it is delivered by people known and trusted in the rural community and involves local vets.”

She adds: “I genuinely believe that in post-culling areas, going in and vaccinating badgers is the right tool at the right time, along with other biosecurity and risk reduction measures.”

2038 eradication goal

Defra’s target of eradicating TB in England by 2038 remains ambitious.

Progress is uneven: many Low-Risk Area counties have gone years without new cases, while parts of the South West remain entrenched TB hotspots.

Officials state that that badger vaccination alone will not deliver rapid results and that it may take several years before lower infection rates in badgers translate into fewer cattle herd breakdowns.

Yet the new contract represents a structural shift.

It will create the professional infrastructure needed to maintain vaccination beyond the current parliament and form the foundation of a sustainable, non-lethal approach to TB control in wildlife.

For farmers, the key question remains whether it will deliver demonstrable improvements after years of costly restrictions.

Success will depend on skilled field staff, landowner co-operation, stable funding and measurable reductions in cattle TB rates.

If vaccination can deliver those outcomes over the coming years, the programme could mark genuine progress in controlling bovine TB. If not, pressure to return to culling is likely to intensify.