A field trial was conducted to investigate the impact of oral vaccination of free-living badgers against natural-transmitted Mycobacterium bovis infection. For a period of three years badgers were captured over seven sweeps in three zones and assigned for oral vaccination with a lipid-encapsulated BCG vaccine (Liporale-BCG) or with placebo. Badgers enrolled in Zone A were administered placebo while all badgers enrolled in Zone C were vaccinated with BCG. Badgers enrolled in the middle area, Zone B, were randomly assigned 50:50 for treatment with vaccine or placebo. Treatment in each zone remained blinded until the end of the study period. The outcome of interest was incident cases of tuberculosis measured as time to seroconversion events using the BrockTB Stat-Pak lateral flow serology test, supplemented with post-mortem examination. Among the vaccinated badgers that seroconverted, the median time to seroconversion (413 days) was significantly longer (p = 0.04) when compared with non-vaccinated animals (230 days). Survival analysis (modelling time to seroconversion) revealed that there was a significant difference in the rate of seroconversion between vaccinated and non-vaccinated badgers in Zones A and C throughout the trial period (p = 0.015). For badgers enrolled during sweeps 1–2 the Vaccine Efficacy (VE) determined from hazard rate ratios was 36% (95% CI: -62%– 75%). For badgers enrolled in these zones during sweeps 3–6, the VE was 84% (95% CI: 29%– 97%). This indicated that VE increased with the level of vaccine coverage. Post-mortem examination of badgers at the end of the trial also revealed a significant difference in the proportion of animals presenting with M. bovis culture confirmed lesions in vaccinated Zone C (9%) compared with non-vaccinated Zone A (26%). These results demonstrate that oral BCG vaccination confers protection to badgers and could be used to reduce incident rates in tuberculosis-infected populations of badgers.

Polyomaviruses infect a diverse range of mammalian and avian hosts, and are associated with a variety of symptoms. However, it is unknown whether the viruses are found in all mammalian families and the evolutionary history of the polyomaviruses is still unclear. Here, we report the discovery of a novel polyomavirus in the European badger (Meles meles), which to our knowledge represents the first polyomavirus to be characterized in the family Mustelidae, and within a European carnivoran. Although the virus was discovered serendipitously in the supernatant of a cell culture inoculated with badger material, we subsequently confirmed its presence in wild badgers. The European badger polyomavirus was tentatively named Meles meles polyomavirus 1 (MmelPyV1). The genome is 5187 bp long and encodes proteins typical of polyomaviruses. Phylogenetic analyses including all known polyomavirus genomes consistently group MmelPyV1 with California sea lion polyomavirus 1 across all regions of the genome. Further evolutionary analyses revealed phylogenetic discordance amongst polyomavirus genome regions, possibly arising from evolutionary rate heterogeneity, and a complex association between polyomavirus phylogeny and host taxonomic groups.

Vaccination of badgers with Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG) has been shown to protect badgers against tuberculosis in experimental trials. During the 3‐year County Kilkenny BCG vaccine field study, badgers were treated orally with placebo (100% in Zone A), BCG (100% in Zone C) or randomly assigned 50%: 50% treatment with BCG or placebo (Zone B). At the end of the study, 275 badgers were removed from the trial area and subjected to detailed post‐mortem examination followed by histology and culture for M. bovis. Among these badgers, 83 (30.2%) were captured for the first time across the three zones, representing a non‐treated proportion of the population. Analysis of the data based on the infection status of treated animals showed a prevalence of 52% (95% CI: 40%–63%) infection in Zone A (placebo), 39% (95% CI: 17%–64%) in Zone B (placebo) and 44% (95% CI: 20%–70%) in Zone B (BCG vaccinated) and 24% (95% CI: 14%–36%) in Zone C (BCG vaccinated). There were no statistically significant differences in the proportion of animals with infection involving the lung and thoracic lymph nodes, extra‐thoracic infection or in the distribution and severity scores of histological lesions. Among the 83 non‐treated badgers removed at the end of the study, the infection prevalence of animals in Zone A (prevalence = 46%, 95% CI: 32%–61%) and Zone B (prevalence = 44%, 95% CI: 23%–67%) was similar to the treated animals in these zones. However, in Zone C, no evidence of infection was found in any of the untreated badgers (prevalence = 0%, 95% CI: 0%–14%). This is consistent with an indirect protective effect in the non‐vaccinated badgers leading to a high level of population immunity. The results suggest that BCG vaccination of badgers could be a highly effective means of reducing the incidence of tuberculosis in badger populations.

Bovine tuberculosis (TB), caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis, is a persistent problem in cattle herds in Ireland and the United Kingdom, resulting in hardship for affected farmers and substantial ongoing national exchequer expenditure. There is irrefutable scientific evidence that badgers are a reservoir of M. bovis infection and are implicated in the transmission of infection to cattle. A range of options for the control of TB in badgers is currently available or under development including culling of badgers, vaccination of badgers and cattle, and improved biosecurity to limit contact between the two species. It is unlikely that the eradication of TB from cattle will be achieved without the reservoir of M. bovis infection in badgers being controlled. The chances of success will, however, improve with greater knowledge of the disease in both species and an understanding of the epidemiological drivers of the transmission of infection between badgers and cattle.