1 Apr 2021
APHA teaming up with University of Nottingham to conduct research project on presence and location of TB infection in badgers in the Southern Edge area.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Image © andyballard / Pixabay.
A research project has been launched to detect the presence and location of bTB in badgers in so-called Southern Edge Area counties.
The APHA is collaborating with the University of Nottingham to conduct the survey in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and East Sussex – the counties making up the Southern Edge Area.
The project wants to collect “a significant number” of fresh, found-dead badger carcases – especially any killed on roads in the counties – which will be examined and tested for TB.
A similar project, funded by Defra, took place in the same area in 2016-17, but it is thought methodological issues may have affected the quality and availability of data.
Noting the concerns, the APHA is repeating the survey, with carcase collection expected to start in April 2021 and remain open for 12 months.
The project is looking for volunteers to help locate and collect carcases, which will then be collected by specialist courier and taken to the University of Nottingham.
They will then be assessed for freshness and suitability, and submitted for postmortem. The main body of the badger should be intact, and if the carcase is discoloured green or skin and hair can be easily pulled away it should not be collected.
Full details of the project are online now and anyone wanting to participate can email the APHA.
