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

Effective management of infectious disease relies upon understanding mechanisms of pathogen transmission. In particular, while models of disease dynamics usually assume transmission through direct contact, transmission through environmental contamination can cause different dynamics. We used Global Positioning System (GPS) collars and proximity-sensing contact-collars to explore opportunities for transmission of Mycobacterium bovis [causal agent of bovine tuberculosis] between cattle and badgers (Meles meles). Cattle pasture was badgers’ most preferred habitat. Nevertheless, although collared cattle spent 2914 collar-nights in the home ranges of contact-collared badgers, and 5380 collar-nights in the home ranges of GPS-collared badgers, we detected no direct contacts between the two species. Simultaneous GPS-tracking revealed that badgers preferred land > 50 m from cattle. Very infrequent direct contact indicates that badger-to-cattle and cattle-to-badger M. bovis transmission may typically occur through contamination of the two species’ shared environment. This information should help to inform tuberculosis control by guiding both modelling and farm management.

传染病的有效防控，有赖于明晰病原体传播的核心机制。具体而言，尽管疾病动态模型通常假设传播经由直接接触发生，但经环境污染的传播模式往往会引发迥异的疾病动态。本研究借助全球定位系统（Global Positioning System, GPS）项圈与近距离感应接触项圈，探究牛与欧洲獾（Meles meles）之间牛分枝杆菌（Mycobacterium bovis，牛结核病致病菌）的潜在传播路径。牛牧场是欧洲獾的首选栖息环境。尽管佩戴项圈的牛在佩戴接触感应项圈的獾的家域内累计停留了2914个项圈监测夜，在佩戴GPS项圈的獾的家域内累计停留了5380个项圈监测夜，但本研究未观测到两个物种间存在任何直接接触。同步GPS追踪结果显示，欧洲獾更倾向于选择距离牛群50米以上的区域活动。极低的直接接触发生率表明，牛分枝杆菌在欧洲獾与牛之间的跨物种传播，通常可能经由二者共享环境的污染途径实现。本研究结果可为结核病防控提供支撑，助力优化疾病动态模型构建与牧场管理实践。