Tag Archives: mustelid

Licence for more badger culling

Posted on October 14, 2013 by argylesock

Natural England has today confirmed that criteria have been met to allow control of badgers to continue under licence in west Somerset for the purpose of preventing the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB).

Posted in ecology | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, disease, disease reservoir, law, livestock, mammal, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, ruminant, shooting, tuberculosis, vertebrate, wildlife | Leave a comment

The badger cull – what we know and what we don’t know

Posted on September 30, 2013 by argylesock

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle (Bos primigenius) caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. You could follow my ‘tuberculosis’ tag. Other animals can get bTB too. In Britain, some people think the native badger (Meles meles) is … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, knowledge transfer | Tagged alien species, bacterium, badger, biosecurity, brushtail possum, cattle, data, deer, disease, farmer, foot and mouth disease, fox, history, knowledge, livestock, mammal, marsupial, mouse, mustelid, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, native species, poison, polecat, politics, research, reservoir, rodent, ruminant, shooting, shrew, squirrel, stoat, tuberculosis, vertebrate, vole, wildlife | 2 Comments

Bovine TB in New Zealand compared to Britain and Ireland

Posted on September 28, 2013 by argylesock

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle (Bos primigenius) caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. You could follow my ‘tuberculosis’ tag. This disease is zoonotic. That is, M. bovis can infect us as well as cattle. Not very … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, knowledge transfer | Tagged alien species, bacterium, badger, bait, bovine tuberculosis, brushtail possum, disease, disease reservoir, finance, fur, history, human, livestock, mammal, marsupial, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, native species, oral vaccination, parental vaccination, pest, research, ruminant, tuberculosis, vaccine, vermin, vertebrate, veterinary, wildlife, zoonosis | 8 Comments

How people get bovine tuberculosis. Or don’t get it.

Posted on September 11, 2013 by argylesock

Here in Britain some cattle (Bos primigenius) get bovine tuberculosis (bTB). It’s caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis. Other animals including the wild badger (Meles meles) can get bTB. Some people think badgers are a reservoir of the disease … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, human health | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, disease, disease reservoir, disease transmission, food processing, food safety, human, livestock, mammal, meat, milk, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, notifiable disease, ruminant, tuberculosis, vertebrate, wildlife, zoonosis | Leave a comment

Tuberculosis in cattle and people

Posted on September 6, 2013 by argylesock

Here in Britain some cattle (Bos primigenius) get bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Symptoms are mild until after the bacterium (Mycobacterium bovis) spreads through the animal’s body. But even in its early stages bTB is a serious problem for the farmer. Bovine … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, human health | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, disease, disease reservoir, disease transmission, food processing, food safety, history, human, law, livestock, mammal, milk, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, notifiable disease, politics, research, ruminant, shooting, tuberculosis, vertebrate, wildlife | 10 Comments

Badger cull is happening

Posted on September 5, 2013 by argylesock

Here in Britain, people with guns are out at night shooting badgers (Meles meles) as planned. So says Owen Paterson, our Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. On Monday this week, Mr Paterson announced that the cull … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, disease, livestock, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, notifiable disease, Paterson_Owen, politics, ruminant, shooting, tuberculosis, wildlife, zoonosis | 4 Comments

Cull conflict

Posted on August 30, 2013 by argylesock

Matthew at the Bovine TB blog is in favour of culling badgers (Meles meles) to help control bovine tuberculosis (bTB). ‘As two small pilot badger culls get underway in Somerset and Gloucestershire, the airwaves are full with pictures of badgerists … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, disease, disease reservoir, livestock, mammal, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, notifiable disease, politics, ruminant, shooting, tuberculosis, vertebrate, wildlife | Leave a comment

Bovine TB in Ireland and how it compares to that in the UK

Posted on August 30, 2013 by argylesock

Here’s a website about bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The unnamed author says, ‘My motivation comes from wanting to create a web site which informs rather than one which tries to influence opinion. As such I try not to hold back any … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, disease, disease reservoir, disease transmission, farmer, foot and mouth disease, history, livestock, mammal, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, notifiable disease, politics, ruminant, shooting, transport, tuberculosis, vertebrate, wildlife | 14 Comments

Shoot badgers? Vaccinate badgers? How about not blaming badgers?

Posted on August 29, 2013 by argylesock

There’s supposed to be a badger (Meles meles) cull happening right now in parts of England. I say ‘supposed to be’ because there’s not a lot about it on the news. It’s about bovine tuberculosis (bTB). This disease is caused … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology | Tagged alien species, bacterium, badger, BCG vaccine, bovine tuberculosis, brushtail possum, cattle, disease, disease reservoir, disease transmission, farmer, livestock, mammal, marsupial, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, native species, notifiable disease, politics, research, ruminant, shooting, transport, tuberculosis, vaccine, vertebrate, wildlife | 11 Comments

Badger sleeping habits could help target TB control

Posted on January 17, 2013 by argylesock

At Exeter University, scientists have found evidence that badgers sleeping in ‘outlying’ setts are more likely than other badgers to carry bovine tuberculosis. This is serious research but I just have to call these badgers ‘dirty stop-outs’.

Posted in agriculture, ecology, knowledge transfer | Tagged bacterium, badger, behaviour, bovine tuberculosis, disease, disease transmission, mammal, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, notifiable disease, research, tuberculosis, vertebrate, wildlife, zoonosis | 3 Comments