Welsh badger vaccination plans detailed

The Welsh Government is aiming to vaccinate about 70% of the badger population in north Pembrokeshire as part of its plan to eradicate bovine tuberculosis.
The vaccination programme will take place in the Intensive Action Area in Pembrokeshire which was outlined by the previous Welsh administration and included a badger cull.
But a cull was ruled out by the Labour-led government’s environment minister John Griffiths on Tuesday 20 March.
Five-year programme
Instead Mr Griffiths laid plans for a five-year vaccination programme to tackle the disease.
In a technical briefing on the proposals, Wales’ chief veterinary officer, Dr Christianne Glossop, said 70% of the estimated population of 2,000 badgers is considered to be a reasonable percentage.
Research indicates that only a proportion of badgers not already infected with bovine TB need to benefit from the protective effects of the vaccine to reduce the prevalence of infection because of the effects of herd immunity.
The vaccination programme will take place over a number of weeks this summer and this process will be repeated every year for five years so that cubs are vaccinated when they emerge in late spring.
How the vaccination will be delivered
This programme could be extended to other areas. The Welsh Government has yet to decide who will deliver the vaccination programme but Environment Minister, John Griffiths, said civil servants had been trained to do this. Vets are another option, he added.
Badgers will be trapped in cages, marked and given an intra-muscular injection of Bacille Calmette– Guérin (BCG), the UK licensed vaccine for badgers.
The only difference between the human BCG and Badger BCG is that the dose given to badgers is higher.
Under experimental conditions, badgers have been shown to give an immune response to BCG between three and four weeks after being injected.
Vaccination is intended to reduce the severity and progression of TB in badgers and the level of bacteria excreted in urine and faeces, thereby reducing transmission to cattle.
Dr Glossop, who had supported the planned badger cull under the previous administration, said trials demonstrated that the vaccine had reduced the severity and progression of the disease.
“It is reasonable to assume that there will be a consequential reduction in the disease in cattle,’’ she said.
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