Badger vaccination
The vaccination of badgers against bTB is a central pillar of The Gower Project’s strategy to control the disease in support of farmers and wildlife.
The vaccination programme is being led by Cefn Gwlad Solutions Ltd, a new company set up to develop a viable and cost-effective plan for both vaccination and enhanced cattle controls on Gower.
Stage one of the strategy was a badger survey conducted in 2018. It established that there were 100 main sets and between 300 – 600 badgers living on Gower.
Stage two, which began in 2019 is vaccination.
200 badgers have been successfully vaccinated to date and by the end of 2019, we’re aiming to have vaccinated 700-1,000.
About the vaccination process
The vaccination programme will help increase immunity to bTB within the Gower’s badger population. It is reasonable to expect that over time the vaccinated badger population would be increasingly immunologically protected from the risk of TB from breakdown herds.
The Vaccination Process is broken into three phases:
1. Task area survey
2. Pre bait
3. Trap and vaccinate
Phase 1 – Task Area Survey
The initial survey in 2018 identified badger setts and latrines. This information is confirmed before setting out any traps to ensure that we take account of any new badger activity in the area.
Phase 2- Pre-Bait
This part of the process begins with the deployment of approved cage traps. The location is informed by the information gained during the survey and care is taken to avoid unnecessary exposure to the elements for trapped animals and to avoid disturbance by human or other animals. Traps are located and dug in as per our Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
The location of these traps is recorded on a field “Trap” map and recorded by handheld GPS. Having been situated, traps are secured open and we commence a period of pre-baiting.
The pre-baiting is a period which allows badgers to become familiar with entering the traps and usually lasts between 5 and 7 days when the traps are visited daily and the bait replenished if need be.
Phase 3 -Trap and Vaccinate
At the end of the pre-baiting period, the traps are set (late evening) to catch and visited at first light the next morning. Captured animals are assessed by our experienced staff for fitness to be vaccinated. If deemed fit, they are vaccinated and released.
Details of the vaccine and diluent batch used are recorded to comply with pharmacovigilance, as is other requisite details such as time; the number of badgers, location and vaccinator etc.
This process is repeated the next night and the following morning any re-captures are assessed and if healthy immediately released. Any new animals are assessed and vaccinated.
Cages are then removed from their positions and returned to the depot for disinfection (We use FAM30, DEFRA approved disinfectant for bTB) and cleansing with a steam cleaner before re-deployment.
The final part of the trap-up is the recording and archiving the data generated. This ensures that we comply with licensing and certification procedures as well as allowing us to monitor changes in capture rates on specific holdings and across the wider area, useful in monitoring deployment success.
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