Yesterday, Monday 15th May 2023, Daniel Kawczynski MP met with Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, the Minister of State for Food, Farming, and Fisheries, to discuss the spread of Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) which has a devastating personal impact on livestock owners and their families.
Despite the Government’s strategy to eradicate TB in England by 2038, Daniel urged the Minister to take tougher action now by stepping up the culling of badgers to help farmers combat the spread of this disease.
However, Daniel welcomes the research that is currently being undertaken to have a deployable TB vaccine for cattle within the next five years.
- Evidence suggests that the badger cull has been effective in reducing TB incidence in cull areas by 45% after three years of culling and 50% after four years.
- The cornerstone of TB control in cattle and other species is the accurate detection and removal of animals infected with the bovine TB bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) before they can spread the disease to other animals.
- As a result of the increased frequency of testing, 583,056 animal TB tests were completed in Shropshire in 2022. This resulted in a total of 1,981 cattle being compulsory slaughtered for TB control reasons in 2022 out of 583,056 animal TB tests completed in the county, at an estimated net compensation cost of £1.8M.
Quote from Daniel Kawczynski MP:
‘As part of being free from TB, I am aware that intensive badger culling in Shropshire where badgers are a significant factor in spreading disease to cattle has been an important part of this. The culling of badgers has led to a significant reduction of this disease in cattle herds.
‘I said to the Minister that I welcome the research into developing a credible vaccine but, in the meantime, the culling of badgers should be stepped up to halt the spread of a disease which is capable of destroying the livelihoods of many of my constituents who are livestock owners.’
