It's most likely that both cattle movements and the local environment are driving the bovine TB epidemic
- Ellen Brooks-Pollock
The model, developed by researchers at the University of Warwick and University of Cambridge, suggests that improved testing, vaccination of cattle and culling of all cattle on infected farms would be the most effective strategies for controlling the disease. It found that whilst badgers – the subject of controversial culling plans to stem the spread of the disease – form part of the environmental reservoir, they only play a relatively minor role in the transmission of infection.
Based on a study of cattle and the causes of bovine TB in Great Britain, the model, published in the journal Nature, sought to ascertain how and why the epidemic has grown over the past 15 years. Using data from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the researchers developed a mathematical model that incorporated both within- and between-farm bovine TB transmission.
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Image: Cows (cropped image)
Credit: Giuseppe Milo
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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