Iain McGill

BVA policy on bovine TB and badger control

THE BVAs position of support for the forthcoming pilot culls of badgers in the west of England is, we believe, not representative of majority scientific or veterinary opinion. As members of the veterinary profession, we are deeply concerned that the shooting of free-roaming badgers at night with shotguns and rifles is very likely to have detrimental welfare impacts on a large number of individual badgers, which may be shot, maimed and severely injured, but not killed outright. The natural behaviour of …

Mycobacterium bovis tuberculosis in hunting hounds

We thank Phipps and others for their response ( VR , 22 September 2018, vol 183, p 356) to our letter. We would argue that the original paper1 does imply that the human case of latent tuberculosis (TB) may have come from hounds, stating that: ‘One kennel worker was also diagnosed with latent TB, potentially due to exposure to infected hounds and/or their contaminated feed, though this remains unproven.’ We welcome the previously unpublished data and retract our original statement, to replace it with: ‘One member of staff was diagnosed with a latent infection from an as yet uncharacterised species of Mycobacterium . Further detail is needed, but the potential risk of dog-to-human transmission of bovine TB remains “plausible and real”.’1 While we appreciate that Phipps and colleagues wish to protect personal privacy, it seems odd for Public Health England to discourage identification of the hunt at this late stage, as this information was publicly confirmed by Defra more than a year ago. The authors cite a 2006 paper by Ellis and colleagues which describes in detail a case of bovine TB in a pet dog.2 Although Phipps and colleagues claim that …

Animal welfare impacts of badger culling operations

We are writing to express our extreme concern following recent media coverage1, 2 relating to the methodology being used by contractors to kill badgers under licence, as part of the government’s policy to control bovine TB in cattle. The coverage relates to the shooting of badgers that have been captured in live traps. Covert video footage (https://bit.ly/2Eud1iR ) from Cumbria shows a trapped badger being shot with a firearm at close range, following which it appears to take close to a minute to stop moving. The contractor clearly observes the animal during this time but makes no attempt to expedite the death of the badger and prevent further suffering, as required by the current Natural England best practice guide which states: ‘Immediately after shooting, the animal should be checked to ensure it is dead, and if there is any doubt, a …

Spreading of bovine TB by hunting hounds

Just before the last General Election, a group of us signed a letter ( VR , June 3, 2017, vol 180, p 546-547) summarising our opposition to fox hunting, an activity that the prime minister openly supported. One of the points we raised concerned the potential spread of bovine TB (bTB) by the Kimblewick Hunt’s pack of hounds, which had become infected in 2016. The formal report of this outbreak of bTB in hounds has recently been published by Edinburgh University in association with APHA/Defra.1 Kimblewick’s approximately 180 hounds operate over six counties of England in the edge and low-risk area for bTB in cattle. In the report, the authors eloquently explain how molecular pathological techniques, including serology and interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA), have been developed for use in diagnosing bTB infection in dogs. Of the 164 hounds that were tested, 97 had evidence of bTB infection. The authors state: ‘… it was assumed that any hound with a significant interferon-gamma response to at least one test antigen was infected and potentially infectious. Any such hound would therefore pose a risk to human and animal health, as well as to the environment and should be removed from the pack and euthanased.’ > The most likely route of bTB infection in hounds was the feeding of bTB-infected meat Consequently, these infected dogs were culled. The authors propose the most likely routes of infection for these hounds. Two broad conclusions are that: 1. The most likely route of bTB infection for hounds was feeding them bTB-infected meat. …

Mycobacterium bovis infection in cats and people

THE recently published short communication by Roberts and others (2014) describing an unusual cluster of cases of Mycobacterium bovis infection in domestic cats in Berkshire relates to events some 12 months ago, although because of the perceived risk to human health, the report has created something of a media storm. While we would not wish to understate the impact that infection might have on affected individuals, or to deny that any human health …

Badger culling extensions

WE were very concerned to see the statement from the BVA on November 5 indicating its agreement with the Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) advice to ministers justifying extensions to the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire. There is significant concern among scientists with considerable expertise in the impact of culling badgers on the incidence of bovine TB in cattle that extending culling over a prolonged period makes the outcome (in terms of its impact on the incidence of bovine TB in cattle) less predictable, and indeed could make matters worse. In light of this scientific uncertainty, the BVAs endorsement of the …

Badger culling pilots

THE letter from Ranald Munro ( VR , June 8, 2013, vol 172, p 617), chair of the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) charged with overseeing the development of humaneness assessment protocols for the pilot badger culls and ensuring the robustness of data collection and analysis, and information Defra has so far released, both …

Emergency treatment of owned and wild animals.

IN view of the controversial removal of Munhuwepasi Chikosis name from the RCVS Register, for actions including the failure to attend to an injured animal for one hour, we would appreciate it if the RCVS could please issue clear and unequivocal guidance on the duration of suffering permitted in a wild animal as a result of veterinary neglect, before disciplinary hearings are triggered. In respect of the badger cull, the Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbens, states in a letter we received on September 12, 2013 that ‘there are . . . no definitive criteria for determining humaneness …