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Badger Vaccination Project

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“Gower badgers need your help”
 
We are carrying out a programme to vaccinate the badger population of Gower against TB. This is part of a strategy to eradicate bTB (bovine TB) in Gower cattle. It involves injecting the badgers with BCG vaccine every year for four years, starting in 2019 and ending in 2022.
We have started this year’s vaccination programme but need funds urgently to be able to continue working for the remainder of this year. There’s’ a real risk of destroying much of the good work already done. 
 Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the companies, organisations and charities to the point they’re unable to make financial contributions this year resulting in severe underfunding.
We are also proposing trialling new innovative methods of dealing with bovine TB infection in cattle herds.
 
Why Gower?

Gower is a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the sea and on the fourth side by urbanisation. It is an area designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This provides a unique opportunity to implement additional disease control measures on an isolated block of land that has had a long term history of bovine TB. We are delivering a badger vaccination project on the Gower Peninsula and with the support of the Welsh Government we have already secured 2/3 of the funds needed. We completed the first year of vaccination in 2019 and have another 3 years to go.

 The Vaccination Project

 Why Badger vaccination?
 
If we are going to be successful in eradicating TB within the Gower then we must deal with the disease in cattle and badgers.

The principle of badger vaccination is to raise immunity against bovine TB within the badger population which should over time decrease disease prevalence and weight of infection, therefore reducing opportunities for badger to cattle transmission. We are also looking at new ways of dealing with the disease in cattle to reduce the opportunities for cattle to badger transmission.
 
The science
 
“From studies of BCG vaccination in other species, it is probable that vaccination of badgers that are already infected or diseased with bovine TB will have no effect on the progression of their infection or their infectivity“ (Welsh Government Science Review Report, Page 13, Para 6).
 
Vaccination aims to confer a degree of protection from either infection or the effects of infection to the vaccinated individual. The objective being to protect individuals from the disease and to reduce onward transmission amongst the host population and other populations. The Welsh Government Science Review reported that “generally it is not necessary that all individuals be rendered immune before infection can no longer sustain itself in a population; there is a threshold fraction of vaccinated animals at which ‘herd immunity’ is said to occur and disease starts to decline” (Science Review Report, Page 6, Para 10,). For example, oral vaccination campaigns in Europe have been highly successful in increasing the proportion of foxes that are not susceptible and as a result rabies has been eliminated from large areas (Wobeser 2007).
 
The key requirements for a successful vaccination programme are the existence of an effective vaccine, an effective mode of vaccine delivery, and methods for deploying the vaccine that ensure a sufficient proportion of the population are vaccinated. The level of benefit observed also depends on the prevalence of infection in the population prior to vaccination and the weight of external challenge. The principle is to vaccinate a sufficient proportion of uninfected badgers so immunity is developed at the population level. Repeated vaccination of the population should result in a decrease in the disease prevalence and the potential for onward transmission of infection.
 
 Estimated Badger Population on Gower
 
The whole of  Gower was surveyed in 2018 and a large amount of data collected. Badger density can vary enormously across different areas of the country. Influencing factors will include availability and quality of habitat and food.
 
It is not possible to determine the precise number of badgers within the Gower. Assuming the average badger social group size across the UK is taken to be 6 individuals.  Using these figures, we would say that the likely population of the area identified as suitable habitat within the Gower could contain between 522 badgers and 1044 badgers with a mean average of 783 badgers. 

 What would be the impact of vaccination of badgers in the Gower?
 
Through an active program of effective badger vaccination, it can be expected that badger population immunity will increase, which in turn can be expected to reduce the risk that badgers may pose to the cattle herds on the Gower. It is reasonable to expect that over time the vaccinated badger population would be increasingly immunologically protected from the risk of TB from breakdown herds.
 
The Gower is a well-defined and isolated area bounded by sea and urban areas this is likely to mean the movement of badgers in and out of Gower will be limited. Therefore the effect of the badger vaccination is neither going to be diluted by an influx of immune naïve badgers or by the exodus of vaccinated badgers.
 
Gower is a small area that is isolated and could be a model for the national picture of how badger vaccination can be used by an industry driven programme in line with the Welsh Government Eradication plan
  
Partners & Beneficiaries – who needs to be involved/ who benefits
 
The programme involves a wide range of people within the Gower including farmers,  environmental groups, Gower community, wildlife groups and tourism. The following are some of the key partners:
 


·       The Gower Badger Vaccination Group
·       Farmers
·       South East Wales TB Board
·       Veterinarians
·       Wildlife group
·       Tourism  officers
·       Natural Resources Wales
·       National Trust
·       Welsh Government
·       Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA)


The Vaccination Process
 
Vaccination is broken into three phases:
 
1.    Task area survey
2.    Pre bait
3.    Trap and vaccinate
 
Phase 1 - Task Area Survey
 
The initial survey in 2018 identified badgers setts and latrines. This information is confirmed prior to setting out any traps to ensure that we take account of any new badger activity in the area.
 
Phase 2- Pre Bait
 
This part of the process begins with deployment of approved cage traps. The location is informed by the information gained during the survey and care is taken to avoid unnecessary exposure to the elements for trapped animals and to avoid disturbance by human or other animals. Traps are located and dug in as per our Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
 
The location of these traps is recorded on a field “Trap” map and recorded by hand held GPS. Having been situated, traps are secured open and we commence a period of pre-baiting.
The pre-baiting is a period which allows badgers to become familiar with entering the traps and usually lasts between 5 and 7 days when the traps are visited on a daily basis and the bait replenished if need be.
 
Phase 3 -Trap and Vaccinate
 
At the end of the pre-baiting period the traps are set (late evening) to catch and visited at first light the next morning. Captured animals are assessed by our experienced staff for fitness to be vaccinated. If deemed fit, they are vaccinated and released. Details of the vaccine and diluent batch used is recorded to comply with pharmoco-vigilance, as is other requisite details such as time; number of badgers, location and vaccinator etc.
 
This process is repeated the next night and the following morning any re-captures are assessed and if healthy immediately released. Any new animals are assessed and vaccinated. Cages are then removed from their positions and returned to the depot for disinfection (We use FAM30, DEFRA approved disinfectant for bTB) and cleansing with a steam cleaner before re-deployment. The final part of the trap-up is the recording and archiving the data generated. This  ensures that we comply with licensing and certification procedures as well as allowing us to monitor changes in capture rates on specific holdings and across the wider area, useful in monitoring deployment success.
 


Bovine TB
 
Bovine TB in cattle is an infectious notifiable disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) that has a significant impact on the health and welfare of the national cattle herd in Wales. It is a disease that is transmissible to humans and other mammals, which means it has serious implications beyond the health of cattle.
 
Disease picture on the Gower
 
Bovine TB is considered an endemic disease in cattle herds on the Gower with a relatively high incidence level. The first confirmed case of bTB in the Gower was in 1994 and the disease picture deteriorated year on year after then until 2009, when the number of new incidents started to plateau and since then the TB prevalence has remained fairly constant. There is also a high recurrence (herds go clear of TB and then get re-infected) of bovine TB within herds on Gower. On average 10% of herds are under TB restriction on the Gower, compared with around 5.5% across Wales. The recent Welsh Government badger found dead survey has reported around 30% TB infection rate in badgers found on the Gower Peninsula.
 
Cefn Gwlad Solutions 
 
Cefn Gwlad Solutions are responsible for delivering the vaccination programme on behalf of the South East Wales Regional Board.
 
 
The Gower Badger Vaccination Group

 
The group was set up in 2015 as an action point from an open meeting for farmers held on Gower in October 2015. The meeting was organised and facilitated by the South East Wales TB Eradication Board.
To take the work forward it was agreed to setup a small focus group of farmers to further explore funding options, determine a best estimate of suitable badger habitat on Gower and to consider a farmer led business case on how this could be delivered.
Local practitioner and Regional Board member Ifan Lloyd MRCVS set about forming and chairing the group which comprises six farmers (including common graziers) namely: Milwyn Layton, Peter Lanfear, Vivian Jones, Simon Bevan, Robert Griffiths, John Furneaux and a business advisor, Stephen Crocker, who has experience in collaborative industry and Government project delivery.
The farmer group and the South East Wales Regional Board have met with Welsh Government officials, APHA and other stakeholders to devise a governance structure, practical delivery options.

Fundraising team: Gower Badger Vaccination Project (3)

Stephen Crocker
Organizer
Dafydd Saunders Jones
Team member
Natalie Touze
Team member

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