Bovine Tuberculosis

(asked on 29th February 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will introduce post-mortem TB testing of badgers culled as part of the Government's bovine TB strategy.


Answered by
George Eustice Portrait
George Eustice
This question was answered on 3rd March 2016

Badgers culled under licence have not been routinely tested for tuberculosis (TB), since previous testing between 1998 and 2005 via the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) and Road Traffic Accident surveys provided evidence of the typical prevalence of TB in badgers in areas of high incidence of TB in cattle. TB was found in around one third of all badgers in these areas.

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