final report - ARCHIVE: Defra

Summary of recommendations
and collaborate with researchers developing human vaccines against Mtb. There are high-value
opportunities for the testing of human candidate vaccines in cattle (or badgers).
25 It seems unlikely that a stand-alone subunit vaccine for use in badgers or cattle will be identified.
However, this position should be reviewed if an effective human stand-alone subunit vaccine becomes
available.
26 Although the BBSRC programmes do support Defra vaccine work, linkage between BBSRC and Defra
projects is not apparent in the documentation available to us. Linkage of all bTB research programmes
could be improved.
Economic and social
27 Research on economic and social dimensions of bTB was, until recently, limited to assessing the
costs of breakdowns and of control measures, with one study looking at public acceptance of control
measures involving culling badgers. Farming practices – a critical element in prevention, control and
recovery – have been largely ignored as a researchable issue. Current research is exploring a wider set
of social and economic impacts of bTB breakdown, and is beginning to assess farmer behaviour from
a multidisciplinary perspective (specifically, behaviour in response to movement restrictions). This is a
welcome development that should be built on in future studies.
28 If policies are designed to inform and influence farmers’ husbandry practices, an evidence base is
needed. This should include studies of farmers’ actual management/husbandry practices following an
outbreak on their farm and in the vicinity of their farm, and the sources of advice and information they
used (if any) in making changes.
29 This research should also include work to understand farmers’ attitudes towards husbandry practices
to reduce risk of badger–cattle contact, and their underlying motivations for changing or not changing
their husbandry practices in response to the bTB threat.
Management
30 It is likely that successful control will only result from the effective implementation of a combination
of approaches. We recommend emphasis on development of a systems approach to the control of
bTB in cattle. This means modelling the ways in which different combinations of control measures
would interact, and considering the appropriateness of different combinations of control measures to
specific areas defined in geographical or disease status terms. We note that in poorly controlled aspects
of human infection, such as Clostridium difficile-associated disease, deployment of all measures for
which some evidence of efficacy is available has, anecdotally, been associated with improved control.
31 It is likely that control measures will be most effective where they are tailored to specific local
circumstances. This requires a significant amount of work in extracting and confirming relevant
information from databases and from the locality relating to cattle, badgers, geography and farming
practices. This is labour-intensive, but could be partially achieved through imaginative use of resources
such as veterinary undergraduate students.
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