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.传染病的精准防控有赖于阐明病原体的传播机制。具体而言，尽管疾病动态模型通常假设病原体经由直接接触传播，但经环境污染介导的传播可引发截然不同的疾病流行动态。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，探究牛与獾（Meles meles）之间牛分枝杆菌（Mycobacterium bovis，牛结核病的致病菌）的潜在传播途径。牛牧场是獾的首选栖息环境。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停留了2914个项圈佩戴夜，在佩戴GPS项圈的獾的家域范围内累计停留了5380个项圈佩戴夜，但本研究未检测到两个物种间存在任何直接接触。同步GPS追踪结果显示，獾更倾向于选择距离牛群50米以上的区域活动。极低的直接接触频率表明，獾向牛、牛向獾的牛分枝杆菌传播通常经由二者共享的环境污染路径发生。本研究结果可为结核病防控工作提供参考，同时为疾病模型构建与牧场管理提供指导依据。