title: Positive and negative effects of widespread badger culling on tuberculosis in cattle.
abstract: Human and livestock diseases can be difficult to control where infection persists in wildlife populations. For three decades, European badgers (Meles meles) have been culled by the British government in a series of attempts to limit the spread of Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (TB), to cattle. Despite these efforts, the incidence of TB in cattle has risen consistently, re-emerging as a primary concern for Britain's cattle industry. Recently, badger culling has attracted controversy because experimental studies have reached contrasting conclusions (albeit using different protocols), with culled areas showing either markedly reduced or increased incidence of TB in cattle. This has confused attempts to develop a science-based management policy. Here we use data from a large-scale, randomized field experiment to help resolve these apparent differences. We show that, as carried out in this experiment, culling reduces cattle TB incidence in the areas that are culled, but increases incidence in adjoining areas. These findings are biologically consistent with previous studies but will present challenges for policy development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, St. Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. c.donnelly@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: Christl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: Rosie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Woodroffe
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: F John
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Bourne
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cheeseman
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Clifton-Hadley
authors.forename: Gao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gettinby
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gilks
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: W Thomas
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Le Fevre
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: McInerney
authors.forename: W Ivan
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Morrison
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D002417:Cattle; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D015994:Incidence; D045969:Mustelidae / Q000382:microbiology; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis; D011897:Random Allocation; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*