Data from: Farmer-led badger vaccination in Cornwall: Epidemiological patterns and social perspectives

In the United Kingdom, the management of bovine tuberculosis (bTB)
challenges the coexistence of people and wildlife. Control of this cattle
disease is hindered by transmission of its causative
agent, Mycobacterium bovis, between cattle and badgers Meles
meles. Badger culling has formed an element of bTB control policy for
decades, but current government policy envisions expanding badger
vaccination. Farming leaders are skeptical, citing concerns that badger
vaccination would be impractical and potentially ineffective. We report on
a four-year badger vaccination initiative in an 11 km2 area which,
atypically, was initiated by local farmers, delivered by scientists and
conservationists, and co-funded by all three. Participating landholders
cited controversies around culling and a desire to support neighbours as
their primary reasons for adopting vaccination. The number of badgers
vaccinated per km2 (5.6 km -2 in 2019) exceeded the number culled on
nearby land (2.9 km -2 in 2019), and the estimated proportion vaccinated
(74 %, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 40 %-137 %) exceeded the 30 %
threshold predicted by models to be necessary to control M. bovis. Farmers
were content with how vaccination was delivered, and felt that it built
trust with wildlife professionals. The percentage of badgers testing
positive for M. bovis declined from 16.0 % (95 % CI 4.5 %-36.1 %)
at the start of vaccination to 0 % (95 % CI 0 %-9.7 %) in the final year.
With neither replication nor unvaccinated controls, this small-scale case
study does not demonstrate a causal link between badger vaccination and
bTB epidemiology, but it does suggest that larger-scale evaluation of
badger vaccination would be warranted. Farmers reported that their
enthusiasm for badger vaccination had increased after participating for
four years. They considered vaccination to have been effective, and good
value for money, and wished to continue with it. Although small-scale,
this case study suggests that badger vaccination can be a technically
effective and socially acceptable component of bTB control. A wider
rollout of badger vaccination is more likely if it is led by the farming
community, rather than by conservationists or government, and is combined
with scientific monitoring.