| Title:
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BADGERS AND CATTLE TB - THE FINAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC GROUP ON CATTLE TB
FOURTH REPORT OF SESSION 2007-08 |
| Volume: |
v. 1 |
| By: |
Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| List price:
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£13.50 |
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| ISBN 10: |
0215513797 |
| ISBN 13: |
9780215513793 |
| Publisher: |
TSO |
| Pub. date: |
27 February, 2008 |
| Series: |
HC Session 2007-08, 130-I |
| Pages: |
65 |
| Synopsis: |
Cattle TB is one of the most serious animal health problems in Great Britain today, with the number of infected cattle doubling every four and a half years and nearly 20,000 being slaughtered in 2006. The cost of the disease to the taxpayer (GBP 80-100 million a year) and to the farming industry is unsustainable. The introduction of a new system of valuations for slaughtered cattle has proved inequitable in many cases.The final report from the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG) concluded that badger culling could not meaningfully contribute to the future control of cattle TB in Britain. This conclusion was contradicted by Sir David King, the then Government Chief Scientific Adviser, though he had not discussed findings with the ISG.The Committee believes there is no simple solution that will control cattle TB. The government should adopt a strategy that includes: more frequent cattle testing; the evaluation of post-movement cattle testing; greater communication with farmers on the benefits of biosecurity measures; the deployment of badger and cattle vaccines when they become available in the future; and continued work on the epidemiology of the disease.Under certain well-defined circumstances it is possible that badger culling could make a contribution towards the reduction in incidence of cattle TB in hot-spot areas.Any cull should be licensed by English Nature and: be done competently and efficiently; be coordinated; cover as large an area as possible (265 km, 2 or more is the minimum needed to be 95 per cent confident of an overall beneficial effect); be sustained for at least four years; and be in areas which have 'hard' or 'soft' boundaries where possible. Crucial gaps in the knowledge about cattle TB and the way it spreads remain and more research is needed. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) needs more funding from the Treasury to pay for the Committee recommendations.The accompanying "Badgers and Cattle TB: The Final Report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB - Volume II: Oral and Written Evidence (HC 130-II)" (ISBN 0215513789) is available to buy separately. |
| Publication: |
UK |
| Imprint: |
Stationery Office Books |
| Returns: |
Non-returnable |