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Bovine TB, Badgers, other animals and TB

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 5:01 pm
by auntiebi0tic
Tuberculosis can be carried by mammals; domesticated species, such as cats and dogs, are generally free of tuberculosis, but wild animals may be carriers.

In some places, regulations aiming to prevent the spread of TB restrict the ownership of novelty pets; for example, the U.S. state of California forbids the ownership of pet gerbils.
TB


Mycobacterium bovis causes TB in cattle. An effort to eradicate bovine tuberculosis from the cattle and deer herds of New Zealand is underway.

It has been found that herd infection is more likely in areas where infected vector species such as Australian brush-tailed possums come into contact with domestic livestock at farm/bush borders.

Controlling the vectors through possum eradication and monitoring the level of disease in livestock herds through regular surveillance are seen as a "two-pronged" approach to ridding New Zealand of the disease.

In the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, badgers have been identified as one vector species for the transmission of bovine tuberculosis.

As a result, governments have come under pressure from some quarters, primarily dairy farmers, to mount an active campaign of eradication of badgers in certain areas with the purpose of reducing the incidence of bovine TB.

The UK government has not committed itself on the issue, not least because it fears public opinion: badgers are a protected species.

The effectiveness of culling on the incidence of TB in cattle is a contentious issue, with proponents and opponents citing their own studies to support their position.

A 9-year scientific study by an IndependentIs the badger to blame for tb? Study Group of the likely efficacy of badger culling reported on 18 June 2007 that it was unlikely to be effective and could actually increase the spread of TB.

The Independent Study Group was chaired by Sir John Bourne and included two statisticians, Professor Cristl Donnelly and Sir David Cox, the most distinguished statistician in the United Kingdom.

Donnelly and Cox produced a sophisticated stochastic model of the badger population which was used to make detailed quantitative predictions about the effects of various policies. The recommendations of the Bourne report came as a surprise to Ministers.

The UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King convened a committee to re-examine the Bourne report.

King's committee produced a report on 30th July, only one month after the publication of Bourne's 9-year study, whose conclusions flatly contradicted those of the Bourne report and recommended badger culling.

The King committee did not include any statisticians and did not make use of the Donnelly & Cox statistical model.

As a result, the issue of badger culling remains hugely controversial in the United Kingdom.
With kind permission of WIKI The peoples encylopedia
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Animals and TB worldwide

Tuberculosis can be carried by mammals; domesticated species, such as cats and dogs, are generally free of tuberculosis, but wild animals may be carriers.

In some places, regulations aiming to prevent the spread of TB restrict the ownership of novelty pets; for example, the U.S. state of California forbids the ownership of pet gerbils.

Mycobacterium bovis causes TB in cattle. An effort to eradicate bovine tuberculosis from the cattle and deer herds of New Zealand is underway.

It has been found that herd infection is more likely in areas where infected vector species such as Australian brush-tailed possums come into contact with domestic livestock at farm/bush borders.

Controlling the vectors through possum eradication and monitoring the level of disease in livestock herds through regular surveillance are seen as a "two-pronged" approach to ridding New Zealand of the disease.

In the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, badgers have been identified as one vector species for the transmission of bovine tuberculosis.

As a result, governments have come under pressure from some quarters, primarily dairy farmers, to mount an active campaign of eradication of badgers in certain areas with the purpose of reducing the incidence of bovine TB.

The UK government has not committed itself on the issue, not least because it fears public opinion: badgers are a protected species.

The effectiveness of culling on the incidence of TB in cattle is a contentious issue, with proponents and opponents citing their own studies to support their position.

A 9-year scientific study by an IndependentIs the badger to blame for tb? Study Group of the likely efficacy of badger culling reported on 18 June 2007 that it was unlikely to be effective and could actually increase the spread of TB.

The Independent Study Group was chaired by Sir John Bourne and included two statisticians, Professor Cristl Donnelly and Sir David Cox, the most distinguished statistician in the United Kingdom.

Donnelly and Cox produced a sophisticated stochastic model of the badger population which was used to make detailed quantitative predictions about the effects of various policies. The recommendations of the Bourne report came as a surprise to Ministers.

The UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King convened a committee to re-examine the Bourne report.

King's committee produced a report on 30th July, only one month after the publication of Bourne's 9-year study, whose conclusions flatly contradicted those of the Bourne report and recommended badger culling.

The King committee did not include any statisticians and did not make use of the Donnelly & Cox statistical model.

As a result, the issue of badger culling remains hugely controversial in the United Kingdom.
With kind permission of WIKI The peoples encylopedia