New TB Strategy

Owen Paterson has made a written parliamentary statement about his proposed plans to eradicate Bovine Tuberculosis in England and achieving Officially Tuberculosis free status for the whole of the Country. To be Officially Tuberculosis Free 99.9% of herds in an area need to be clear of the infection. The proposals now are to abandon the policy that has the same control measures for all farms throughout the country and adapt different measures in High Risk, Low Risk and Edge areas. The Low risk areas are the whole of the north of the country and eastern and southern counties apart from East Sussex. We are of course in the high risk area which runs from Dorset to Cheshire and includes the West of the Country.

Working on the Edge

The Edge Area will run north from Hampshire up to Cheshire and across to the Wirral. The idea of control measures on the Edge is to stop the advance of the infection from the High Risk Area to cattle and badgers in the east. At the moment there is a massive effort to stop the spread of infection across the M56 and River Mersey as these are the natural barriers that the infected badgers have reached.  

Developing New Vaccines

In the statement the Secretary of State indicated that further efforts will be made to develop an oral vaccine for badgers and new diagnostic tests for both cattle and badgers. The aim is that the whole of England will be free of infection in twenty five years time. Just how this time scale is worked out is by no means clear as it seems to rely on things being discovered that probably won’t be.   

 Low Risk

In the low risk area where there are no known places where there are infected badgers the strategy will be to deal immediately with herd breakdowns and further reduce the very low incidence of the disease in cattle. This will mean more cattle testing and more resources to clear up herd breakdowns.

Edge

On the edge the aim will be to stop the geographical spread of the disease and ultimately reverse its advance. This will be done by determining the level of infection in the local badger population and vaccinating badgers where it is thought to be appropriate. Again there are to be tighter controls where herd breakdowns have occurred to contain the infection.

High Risk

The strategy in the high risk areas seems to rely on culling more badgers depending on the results of the pilot cull, which does not seem to have got under way yet, and the use of vaccines in both cattle and  badgers which again at best is some years in the future. It is difficult to under stand if there could be any more testing in the high risk areas as many farms are being tested every two months as it is.

Post Movement Testing.

When cattle go from England into Scotland they are required to have a post movement skin test two months after they arrive. This policy was criticised at first but it has worked and I think it should be adopted for all cattle moving from the High Risk to the Low Risk area. On some farms in the East of the country cattle might not get another skin test for four years and this is an obvious weakness in the current control measures.

 Change of Emphasis

It is encouraging that slowly more emphasis is shifted onto badger control measures. As yet the effects of the extensive badger vaccination programme both here and in Wales has not been determined. At best this will have only limited benefits as it is being used in areas where many badgers either have or are incubating the disease. If we do have a dry summer that might do far more to the badger population than anything DEFRA has initiated so far as badgers struggle when the ground is dry and worms and slugs are difficult to find.

Ragwort and Cattle

Horse owners are well aware of the toxic effects of ragwort on their animals but did you know it can cause problems with cattle as well. The plant contains a pyrrolizidine alkaloid that is toxic to the liver and may cause pathology in the chest of animals that eat it. Ragwort has a bitter taste when it is growing, but it is not wise to assume that it will be safe to graze cattle on fields where it grows as cattle will take it when it has been trampled especially if there is little fodder available. Water buffalo will eat the growing plant as they don’t seem to mind the taste and will readily poison them selves. There is concern about pyrrolizine alkaloids because they are now known to cause cancer in people that eat meat or drink milk from animals that have grazed on pastures contaminated with ragwort. The assumption is that even if you were exposed in this way the toxic parts would be so diluted that the chances of harm are small, but it would be better not to take that risk.

Protecting the Food Chain

Ragwort does respond well to control measures. If you pull it up or cut it before it sets seed it will go for good, but it is local authorities that are often the worst offenders as they allow ragwort to grown on road side verges which will encourage the dispersal of the seeds. Conservation groups readily argue that this is the food plant for the cinnabar moth, but this insect will live on groundsel as well. If you know there is something out there that is toxic to horses and cattle and could be carcinogen to people it is best to get rid of it and not worry too much about the scarcity of brightly coloured moths later in the year. 

Otter Survey

It is good to know that otters are making a comeback and they can be seen from time to time even in towns and villages. Inland Otters are mostly active at night so it is only occasionally that you will see them during the day.

As the numbers increase more and more otters are getting hit by cars. In the past Cardiff University has been interested in investigating Otter deaths to survey their general health and discover if they are still picking up pesticides from the fish that they live on. This project is still continuing, they are always short of funds, as long as the Otter has not been dead for too long.

Accident Black Spots

It has been noticed that there are certain accident black spots for Otters. In the past we have sent two dead Otters off to the project found by the same bridge in the south of the County at different times of the year. If you do discover a dead Otter the Environmental Agency are always keen to investigate. They can be contacted on 0370 8506506. They need the information so that they can construct low fencing and possible under passes for busy roads to divert Otters away from dangerous places.

Return to Newsletters