Absence of effects of widespread badger culling on tuberculosis in cattle.

Government policy in England aims for the elimination of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). This policy includes culling of European badger (Meles meles) to reduce cattle TB incidence. The rationale is based on a field trial, the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) 1998-2005, which reported a substantial decrease in bTB herd incidence where badger culling had been implemented, in comparison to untreated control areas.

Analysis of the impact of badger culling on bovine tuberculosis in cattle in the high-risk area of England, 2009-2020.

Background: Since 2013, badger culling has been part of the UK Government's strategy for controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) within a high-risk area (HRA) in England. Government surveillance data now enables an examination of bTB herd incidence and prevalence, its headline indicators, within and outside cull areas over the period 2009-2020.

Methods: Analysis compared herd incidence and prevalence data from within and outside badger culling areas.

Reconstructing the emergence of a lethal infectious disease of wildlife supports a key role for spread through translocations by humans.

There have been few reconstructions of wildlife disease emergences, despite their extensive impact on biodiversity and human health. This is in large part attributable to the lack of structured and robust spatio-temporal datasets. We overcame logistical problems of obtaining suitable information by using data from a citizen science project and formulating spatio-temporal models of the spread of a wildlife pathogen (genus Ranavirus, infecting amphibians).