A new Efra Select Committee report into progress to develop a vaccine solution for bovine TB has concluded that vaccination is expensive, offers no guarantee of protection and will provide little benefit in the immediate future.
Launching the report, which looked at providing protection for both badgers and livestock, committee chairman, Anne McIntosh MP, said: “While progress to develop vaccines is clearly being made, debate on this subject has been characterised by lack of clarity leading to poor public understanding.
"The government must share a great deal of the blame for this.
“The government is right to invest millions of pounds in developing vaccines against bovine TB.
“We should use every tool to combat this disease, but vaccination alone will not, at least in the short-term, provide a complete solution. Vaccines have no impact on already infected animals, offer a range of protection to those that aren’t infected, and will be expensive to deploy.”
Read 'Vaccination against Bovine TB' here.
The report notes that successive governments have invested more than £43 million on vaccine research and development since 1994. By the end of the current spending review period, Defra will have spent a further £15 million.
Deployment of the injectable badger vaccine will cost an estimated £2,000-£4,000 per km2. The cattle vaccine is expected to cost £5-6 per dose and the DIVA test (which differentiates between infected and vaccinated cattle) costs £25, in addition to existing testing costs.