Data from: 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.

传染病的有效防控依赖于对病原体传播机制的深入认知。具体而言，尽管多数疾病传播动力学模型通常假设病原体通过直接接触传播，但经环境污染物介导的传播往往会引发截然不同的传播动态。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，探究了牛与欧洲獾（Meles meles）之间牛分枝杆菌（Mycobacterium bovis，即牛结核病致病菌）的传播潜在路径。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范围内累计活动了2914个项圈佩戴夜数，在佩戴GPS项圈的獾的家域范围内累计活动了5380个项圈佩戴夜数，但本研究未观测到两个物种间存在直接接触。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。直接接触频率极低这一结果表明，牛分枝杆菌在欧洲獾与牛之间的跨物种传播，通常可能通过二者共享环境的污染物介导实现。本研究结果可为结核病防控提供参考，助力优化传播动力学模型构建与牧场管理实践。