Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:37:40.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Bovine tuberculosis in domestic and wild mammals in an area of Dorset. II. The badger population, its ecology and tuberculosis status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2010

T. W. A. Little
Affiliation:
Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, Weybridge, Surry, KT15 3NB
C. Swan
Affiliation:
Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, Weybridge, Surry, KT15 3NB
H. V. Thompson
Affiliation:
Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, Weybridge, Surry, KT15 3NB
J. W. Wilesmith
Affiliation:
Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, Weybridge, Surry, KT15 3NB
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Following a major outbreak of tuberculosis in cattle on a farm in Dorset, badgers were discovered to be infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Two hundred and forty sets were found in the 1200 hectares of the study area. The sets were found predominantly in areas of Portland Sand. A high prevalence of tuberculosis was found in the badger population which was removed and repopulation prevented for 3 years. The removal of the infected badgers led to the resolution of the problem in cattle. Re-colonization of the area has progressed slowly and the cattle have remained free from infection for a period of 5 years.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

References

REFERENCES

Birn, K. J. (1965). Blood medium for the isolation of tubercle bacilli. British Veterinary Journal 121, 437441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bouvier, G. (1963). Possible transmission of tuberculosis and brucellosis from game animals to man and to domestic animals. Bulletin. Office International des Epizooties 59, 433436.Google Scholar
Bouvier, G., Burgisser, H. & Schneider, P. A. (1957). Observations sur les maladies du gibier, des oiseaux et des poissons. Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde 99, 461477.Google Scholar
Bouvier, G., Burgisser, H. & Schneider, P. A. (1959). Observations sur les maladies du gibier, des oiseaux et des poissons faites en 1957 et en 1958. Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde 101, 340349.Google Scholar
Bouvier, G., Burgisser, H. & Schneider, P. A. (1962). Observations sur les maladies du gibier et des animaux sauvages faites en 1959 et 1960. Schweizer A rchiv für Tierheilkunde 104, 440450.Google Scholar
Cheeseman, C. L. & Mallinson, P. J. (1980). Radio tracking in the study of bovine tuberculosis in badgers. In A handbook on Biotelemeiry and Radio Tracking. (ed. Amlaner, C. J. and MacDonald, D. W.), p. 649. Pergamon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, J. (1947). Bovine Tuberculosis, p. 16. London: Staple Press.Google Scholar
Francis, J. (1971). Susceptibility to tuberculosis and the route of infection. Australian Veterinary Journal 47, 414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, J., Muirhead, R. H. & Burn, K. J. (1976). Tuberculosis in wild badgers (Meles meles) in Gloucestershire: pathology. The Veterinary Record 98, 914.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Julian, A. F. (1981). Tuberculosis in the possum Trichosurus vulpecula. In Proceedings of the First Symposium on Marsupials in New Zealand (ed. Bell, B. D.), pp. 164174. Zoology Publication from Victoria, University of Wellington 74, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Kruuk, H. (1978). Spatial organisation and territorial behaviour of the European badger Meles meles. Journal of Zoology, London. 184, 119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruuk, H., Parish, T., Brown, C. A. J. & Carrera, J. (1979). The use of pasture by the European badger (Meles meles). Journal of Applied Ecology 16, 453459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesslie, I. W. (1959). A comparison of biological and some cultural methods for the primary isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Journal of Comparative Pathology 69, 110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Little, T. W. A., Naylor, P. F. & Wilesmith, J. W. (1982). A laboratory study of Mycobacterium bovis infection in badgers and calves. The Veterinary Record. (In the Press).Google Scholar
Little, T. W. A., Swan, C., Thompson, H. V. & Wilesmith, J. W. (1982). Bovine tuberculosis in domestic and wild mammals in an area of Dorset. III. The prevalence of tuberculosis in mammals other than badgers and cattle. Journal of Hygiene 89, 225234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKintosh, C. G., MacArthur, J. A., Little, T. W. A. & Stuart, P. (1976). The immobilization of the badger (Meles meles). British Veterinary Journal 132, 609614.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McFadyean, J. & Knowles, R. J. (1915). The diagnosis of tuberculosis in cattle by inoculation of guinea-pigs with antiformined faeces. Journal of Comparative Pathology 28, 107146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, J. A., Stevens, A. E., Little, T. W. A. & Stuart, P. (1978). Lymphocyte unresponsiveness to PPD tuberculin in badgers infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Research in Veterinary Science 25, 390392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morris, J. A., Stuart, P. & Little, T. W. A. (1979). A pilot study to assess the usefulness of ELISA in detecting tuberculosis. The Veterinary Record 104, 14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muirhead, R. H., Gallagher, J. & Burn, K. J. (1974). Tuberculosis in wild badgers in Gloucestershire: epidemiology. The Veterinary Record 95, 552555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neal, E. G. (1977). Badgers, pp. 83 and 254. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press.Google Scholar
Noonan, N. L., Sheane, W. D., Harper, L. R. & Ryan, P. J. (1975). Wildlife as a possible reservoir of bovine tuberculosis. Irish Veterinary Journal 29, 1.Google Scholar
Report (1975). Triennial Report of the Pest Infestation Control Laboratories 19711973, p. 178. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Report (1976). Bovine Tuberculosis in Badgers. First Report. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London.Google Scholar
Report (1977). Bovine Tuberculosis in Badgers. Second Report. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. London.Google Scholar
Report (1978 a). Annual Report on Research and Technical Work 1978. Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, p. 170. Belfast: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Report (1978 b). Triennial Report of the Pest Infestation Control Laboratories 19741976, p. 171. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Report (1979). Bovine Tuberculosis in Badgers. Third Report. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London.Google Scholar
Sebek, Z. (1965). A Characterisation of Leptospirosis Foci on the Territory of Czechoslovakia in Theoretical Questions of Natural Foci of Diseases (ed. Rosicky, B., and Heyburger, K.), p. 69. Prague: Publishing House of Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Stenhouse-Williams, R. & Hoy, W. A. (1930). The viability of B. tuberculosis (Bovinus) on pasture land, in stored faeces and in liquid manure. Journal of Hygiene (Cambridge) 30, 413419.Google Scholar
Thompson, H. V. & Thompson, R. H. (1966). Rabbit control by cyanide gassing. Agriculture, London 73, 383386.Google Scholar
Wilesmith, J. W., Little, T. W. A., Thompson, H. V. & Swan, C. (1982). Bovine tuberculosis in domestic and wild mammals in an area of Dorset. I. Tuberculosis in cattle. Journal of Hygiene 89, 195210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuckerman, Lord (1980). Badgers, Cattle and Tuberculosis. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar