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Bovine TB: Badger vaccinations 'no magic bullet' | Bovine TB: Badger vaccinations 'no magic bullet' |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Vaccinating badgers to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in cattle would be expensive and offer no "magic bullet", MPs have said. | Vaccinating badgers to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in cattle would be expensive and offer no "magic bullet", MPs have said. |
Governments had invested more than £43m in developing vaccines since 1994 but these could not provide a "complete solution", the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said. | |
Ministers have given the go-ahead for badger culls in south-west England. | Ministers have given the go-ahead for badger culls in south-west England. |
The animals are known to spread TB. Infected cattle have to be slaughtered. | |
The government says the disease has already cost farmers and the wider economy more than £500m and that this will rise to £1bn if the badger cull does not take place. | The government says the disease has already cost farmers and the wider economy more than £500m and that this will rise to £1bn if the badger cull does not take place. |
MPs are currently debating the issue in the House of Commons. Labour has called for an alternative to badger culls but the government is proceeding with six-week pilots in Gloucestershire and Somerset. | |
Under its plans, badgers will be shot in the open without first being trapped in cages, which is current practice. | |
'Non-starter' | |
Animal rights activists say they will take direct action to stop more than 5,000 animals being shot. | Animal rights activists say they will take direct action to stop more than 5,000 animals being shot. |
They argue that vaccinating badgers would be more humane and a more effective way to stop bovine TB spreading. | They argue that vaccinating badgers would be more humane and a more effective way to stop bovine TB spreading. |
In a report published on Wednesday, the cross-party Commons committee said the government should use "every tool" to combat the disease, but vaccination alone would not provide a solution. | |
The committee's chairman, Conservative MP Anne McIntosh, said vaccines "have no impact on already infected animals" and "would be expensive to deploy" | |
The committee said the current government would have spent £14m on vaccine research alone between 2010 and 2014 and that injecting badgers with vaccines would cost between £2,000 and £4,000 per square kilometre. | |
Oral vaccine | Oral vaccine |
It said an "oral, baited vaccine" for badgers would be "cheaper and potentially more practical" than trying to inject the animals but such a vaccine was some way off. | |
Speaking in Wednesday's debate, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative MP for The Cotswolds, said badgers could became "vicious" when caged and seeking to vaccinate a large number of animals in TB hotspots was "simply a non-starter". | |
And his Conservative colleague Neil Parish, who represents Tiverton and Honiton, said farmers in his Devon constituency were "at their wits' end" over the issue and the government had a duty to act. | |
But Labour's Chris Williamson, MP for Derby North, said there was no scientific evidence to suggest a cull would have the desired effects. In contrast, it would result in animals "dying in agony" and "enraging" public opinion. | |
"It is absolutely bonkers. It is criminal and it should stop," he told MPs. | |
Lib Dem MP Andrew George has suggested ministers are willing to back a vaccination trial in west Cornwall, which could cost about £2m. | |
The St Ives MP said this would be cheaper than having to police demonstrations against badger culls and that animal welfare organisations could contribute to the cost of the experiment. | |
The RSPCA, which has co-ordinated opposition to the cull, has indicated it would be prepared to do so. | |
"We care equally about badgers and cattle but this cull simply will not work," the campaign group said on Wednesday. |