English badgers to be vaccinated against tuberculosis

Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn has announced that from badgers in England will be vaccinated against bovine tuberculosis.

The vaccinations will be set up in six geographical areas of one hundred square kilometres each where bovine tuberculosis id high occurrence levels.

DEFRA say the treatments will be the first use of a vaccine for TB in badgers outside research areas.

Hilary Benn said: “Developing an effective vaccine for bovine TB is only half the challenge. The other is to deploy it effectively. This project will help us do that. As such it marks real progress in our fight against this terrible disease.”

The Smallholder says that MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and Liberal Democrat Food and Rural Affairs, Roger Williams has called on DEFRA to rethink the situation saying that Benn is 'not using all the tools in his arsenal.'