bTB experts challenge CVO on UK’s badger cull

A group of leading bTB experts has expressed concern that the Government is misleading the public and the veterinary profession about key facts surrounding the UK’s controversial badger cull.

In a letter to CVO Christine Middlemiss, a group of leading vets – including Iain McGill, the former government scientist who blew the whistle on the BSE cover-up in the 1990s – also raise concerns that comments made about the science behind the cull threaten to undermine confidence in the independence of the CVO’s advice to Government.

For the past seven years, targeted culling of the protected species has been a central part of the Government’s strategy to eradicate bTB by 2038 – a policy that has seen more than 100,000 badgers killed across 44 different areas at a cost of more than £60 million to the taxpayer.

Letter

In the letter – which you can read online – the authors challenge comments made by Dr Middlemiss during an interview in which she discussed phasing out the cull, as well as the use of whole genome sequencing and the strength of evidence it provides about the role badgers play in the spread of bTB.

The letter also questions Dr Middlemiss’ advice regarding culling in Derbyshire, which began this year, despite research on found-dead badgers in the northern edge area by Malcolm Bennett, from the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, suggesting badgers were not driving the cattle epidemic in the region.

‘Extremely concerned’

The letter reads: “Were you not aware of Prof Bennett’s findings and conclusions in this regard? If you were aware of this, we can understand why you might have withdrawn your support for culling in Derbyshire in 2019, but why did you then go on to authorise culling in 2020?

“Given the above inconsistencies, we are extremely concerned your statements may have misled the public, the farming industry and members of the veterinary profession, and threaten to undermine confidence in the independence of the CVO’s advice to Government.”

The letter also questions the use of pie charts in the APHA’s epidemiology reports, which are based on risk pathway questionnaires (disease risk forms [DRFs]) completed by the attending vet. It continued: “These DRF pie charts are being quoted as if they represented fact by multiple authors to incriminate badgers as the source of the overwhelming majority of herd breakdowns.”

Defra response

In response to the letter, a Defra spokesman said: “BTB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges that the UK faces today, causing considerable trauma for farmers and costing taxpayers more than £100 million every year.

“No one wants to continue the cull of a protected species indefinitely. That is why we are accelerating other elements of our strategy, including vaccination and improved testing, so we can eradicate this insidious disease and start to phase out badger culling in England.”