TB fears re-ignited after badger vaccination plan abandoned

The Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (BVDP) – a programme to inoculate badgers across the country – was due to begin in the next few weeks but has now been abandoned by Ministers over concerns about its effectiveness and cost.

Bovine TB resulted in more than 40,000 cattle being slaughtered last year at a cost of more than 80m to the taxpayer – destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers in the process. Badgers are strongly suspected to be behind the spread of the disease and the BVDP programme was to begin vaccinating the animals at a series of sites across the country.

Apart from one small trial in Stroud, Gloucestershire, this programme has now however, been axed by Defra as Ministers begin a review of how the disease is being controlled – with a cull of badgers among the options being considered.

The move marks the first real break from the agricultural policies of the previous Government who had instituted the vaccination programme as an alternative to killing badgers – a move unpopular with many farming leaders.

A Defra spokeswoman said the scrapping of BVDP "reflects both the changed policy position and the need to consider carefully all public expenditure".

New Conservative Agriculture Minister Jim Paice said: "It makes sense to review the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project to keep our options open and to ensure best possible use of taxpayers' money."

Farming leaders and commentators gave the move a cautious welcome but called for a new, comprehensive approach to tackling the disease to be instituted as soon as possible.

Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, said: "The NFU has always supported the development of vaccines as one of the measures needed to develop an effective TB eradication plan.

"However, we have always feared that this has been seen as a silver bullet and we have remained convinced that, on its own, this policy would not deliver the desired results.

"We have always said that we need a holistic approach if we are to move towards the eradication of bovine TB. Our view is that this approach must include a mixture of cattle and wildlife controls, that vaccination was only one of the tools available and that culling options also needed to be considered."

British Veterinary Association president Professor Bill Reilly welcomed the Government's intention to reassess its TB strategy but expressed concerns the announcement to restrict the policy could cause delays in the introduction of controls in some parts of the country.

"It is a matter of urgency that the new government team develop a robust and holistic policy to bTB in cattle and in wildlife as soon as possible," he said.

The president of the British Cattle Veterinary Association, Keith Cutler, said: "The planned cuts particularly affect TB hot spots – further delay in action in these endemic areas will only make it harder to clear.

"The announcement offers some hope saying it will to look into 'other options for how vaccination might be deployed more widely as part of a badger control policy' but a long delay in further action is in no-one's interest.

"We urge the Government to put forward its plans soon," he added

Environmental group the Badger Trust expressed its disappointed at the government's decision, saying that a cull could prove costly.

The RSPCA also condemned the move.