Badgers prefer cattle pasture but avoid cattle: implications for bovine tuberculosis control

Woodroffe, Rosie; Donnelly, Christl A.; Ham, Cally; Jackson, Seth Y. B.; Moyes, Kelly; Chapman, Kayna; Stratton, Naomi G.; Cartwright, Samantha J.

doi:10.1111/ele.12654

Cited by 68 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Our results are consistent with previous studies which also found that opportunities for direct transmission of M. bovis from badgers to cattle at pasture are likely to be rare (Böhm et al, 2009;Drewe et al, 2013;Woodroffe et al, 2016). In addition, our approach enabled us to quantify the role of individual badger latrines within a broader network of direct and indirect transmission opportunities.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Transmission between badgers and cattle, however, remains difficult to trace and quantify. Direct behavioural interactions between badgers and cattle and therefore associated opportunities for direct transmission of M. bovis are rare (Böhm et al, 2009;Drewe et al, 2013;Woodroffe et al, 2016). Given that M. bovis can persist in the environment in suitable conditions (Courtenay et al, 2006;King et al, 2015), indirect routes of spread via the environment could play a role in disease transmission between badgers and cattle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying direct and indirect contacts for the potential transmission of infection between species using a multilayer contact network

Silk

Drewe

Delahay

et al. 2018

Behav.

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Detecting opportunities for between-species transmission of pathogens can be challenging, particularly if rare behaviours or environmental transmission are involved. We present a multilayer network framework to quantify transmission potential in multi-host systems, incorporating environmental transmission, by using empirical data on direct and indirect contacts between European badgers Meles meles and domestic cattle. We identify that indirect contacts via the environment at badger latrines on pasture are likely to be important for transmission within badger populations and between badgers and cattle. We also find a positive correlation between the role of individual badgers within the badger social network, and their role in the overall badger-cattle-environment network, suggesting that the same behavioural traits contribute to the role of individual badgers in within-and between-species transmission. These findings have implications for disease management interventions in this system, and our novel network approach can provide general insights into transmission in other multi-host disease systems.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying direct and indirect contacts for the potential transmission of infection between species using a multilayer contact network

Silk

Drewe

Delahay

et al. 2018

Behav.

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“…Following Woodroffe et al . () we applied filters to exclude inaccurate GPS locations; full details are provided in Supporting Information alongside analyses which indicate that these filters are unlikely to have biased our conclusions about the effects of vaccination.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following Woodroffe et al . (), we estimated home range size using the nonparametric Local Convex Hull ( a‐LoCoH ) method, selected because it has been shown to accurately reflect physical barriers such as coastline (Getz et al . ), and would therefore be expected also to reflect territorial boundaries.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ranging behaviour of badgersMeles melesvaccinated with Bacillus Calmette Guerin

Woodroffe

Donnelly

Ham

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Because biological systems are complex, management interventions occasionally have unintended adverse consequences. For example, attempts to control bovine tuberculosis (TB) by culling badgers Meles meles have, under some circumstances, inadvertently increased cattle TB risks. Such harmful effects occur because culling profoundly alters badger movement behaviour, increasing pathogen transmission both between badgers and from badgers to cattle. It has recently been suggested that another TB management tool, badger vaccination with Bacillus Calmette Guerin, might provoke similar behavioural changes and hence similar harmful effects for cattle. We therefore took advantage of an existing project, which monitored 54 GPS‐collared badgers across four study sites in southwest Britain, to explore whether vaccination, or live trapping to administer vaccine, influenced badger movement behaviour. We detected no significant effects of either vaccination or trapping on badgers’ monthly home range size, nightly distance travelled, or frequency of trespassing in neighbouring territories. The estimated effect of vaccination on badger home range size [2% reduction, 95% confidence interval (CI) 18% reduction – 17% increase] was statistically non‐significant, but significantly smaller than that associated with both widespread (180% increase, 95% CI 70–362% increase; P < 0·001) and localised badger culling (74% increase, 95% CI 4–191% increase; P = 0·038). Synthesis and applications. In contrast with culling, live trapping and vaccinating badgers did not measurably alter their movement behaviour, fuelling optimism that vaccination might contribute positively to cattle tuberculosis control. Our study illustrates how existing monitoring can be exploited to assess potentially adverse effects of wildlife management.

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“…Further, raccoons and opossums utilize the same stored feed, water sources, and feed being consumed by cattle and frequent farm buildings which house cattle and/or stored feed (BruningFann et al, 2001;Atwood et al, 2009;Witmer et al, 2010;Walter et al, 2013). In other areas of the world where bTB is endemic, similar mesopredators including European badger (Meles meles) in Europe (Garnett et al, 2002;Bohm et al, 2009;Woodroffe et al, 2016) and brush-tailed opossum in New Zealand (Yockney et al, 2013) function as primary reservoirs of reinfection for cattle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating wildlife-cattle contact rates to improve the understanding of dynamics of bovine tuberculosis transmission in Michigan, USA

Lavelle

Kay

Pepin

et al. 2016

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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Badgers prefer cattle pasture but avoid cattle: implications for bovine tuberculosis control

Cited by 68 publications

References 54 publications

Quantifying direct and indirect contacts for the potential transmission of infection between species using a multilayer contact network

Quantifying direct and indirect contacts for the potential transmission of infection between species using a multilayer contact network

Ranging behaviour of badgersMeles melesvaccinated with Bacillus Calmette Guerin

Evaluating wildlife-cattle contact rates to improve the understanding of dynamics of bovine tuberculosis transmission in Michigan, USA

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