Local cattle and badger populations affect the risk of confirmed tuberculosis in British cattle herds.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) remains a priority on the public health agenda in Great Britain, after launching in 1998 the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of badger (Meles meles) culling as a control strategy. Our study complements previous analyses of the RBCT data (focusing on treatment effects) by presenting analyses of herd-level risks factors associated with the probability of a confirmed bTB breakdown in herds within each treatment: repeated widespread proactive culling, localized reactive culling and no culling (survey-only).

Methodology/principal findings

New cases of bTB breakdowns were monitored inside the RBCT areas from the end of the first proactive badger cull to one year after the last proactive cull.

SUBMITTER: Vial F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3065452 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature