AGRICULTURAL SHOWS

I just recieved this mail from pennisularbadgers;

* Badger Trust demands tough new TB rules at agricultural shows to* *close "disease-risk loophole"* All cattle to be shown at agricultural shows in England, Scotland and Wales should be subject to a blood-based pre-movement TB test, followed by isolation and a post-movement test, the Badger Trust demanded today, at the start of the Devon County Show [1]. At present, there is an exemption to the pre-movement testing rules for cattle going to agricultural shows, provided that the animal is returned to the premises of origin or moved direct to slaughter [2]. But the Badger Trust argues that this makes no sense and poses an unacceptable disease risk. Trevor Lawson, for the Badger Trust, commented: "The cattle at these shows represent the greatest potential loss to farmers and the greatest compensation hit to tax payers [3]. The Government accepts that pre-movement testing is necessary to prevent cattle infecting other herds, so pre-movement testing for cattle at agricultural shows must also be essential. Most will be confined in a stressful environment with ready contact with other animals, providing an easy opportunity for disease transmission. If they then take that disease back to a pedigree herd, the cost to both farmers and tax payers can be colossal. "Animal health Ministers in England, Scotland and Wales must act now to close this disease-risk loophole." The Badger Trust argues that the gamma interferon blood test should be used. "It provides a very rapid and very reliable test for bovine TB. It only requires one visit from the vet and the results can be ready in 48 hours, so it can give a more reliable picture of the animal's health status immediately before a show. "Furthermore, the cut-off point for the test can be adjusted, so that a 'false positive' diagnosis can be virtually eliminated. Although this does mean that some infected animals could be missed, it is still far better than the skin test, which misses around one third of infected cattle. If a positive diagnosis were in doubt, it could then be verified by a more specific gamma interferon test to minimise the risk of slaughtering a healthy animal." The Badger Trust's concern about cattle at agricultural shows was raised by the case of Devon farmer Gordon Tully, who has been blaming badgers for the bovine TB in his pedigree herd of South Devon cattle. The herd was first struck by bovine TB in 2004. According to Mr Tully: "The man [state vet] who came said it had to be badgers. [4]" But previously, Mr Tully had shown his cattle at "at Smithfield and the Royal, as well as the annual county shows". In 2008, Mr Tully confirmed that some of the cattle in his latest TB outbreak were show animals in 2007 [5]. Trevor Lawson commented: "This situation is clearly a tragedy for Mr Tully and must be costing tax payers a fortune. But the fact is that the state vets cannot say with any authority how bovine TB got into Mr Tully's herd because they do not gather any meaningful epidemiological evidence [6]. The fact that cattle shown last year were subsequently diagnosed with TB is seriously worrying. Did they have the disease before they went, posing a risk to other show cattle? Did they catch TB at the show from another herd? Without any pre-movement testing for show cattle, we simply don't know. That's unacceptable." The Badger Trust warns that one of the biggest risks posed by agricultural shows is that they can attract animals from all over the country. "Most cattle are never tested for bovine TB in their lifetimes [7], because they come from areas that are subject to three and four-yearly testing. The Independent Scientific Group has warned that this means we have no idea how extensive the TB epidemic is in those areas [8]. Yet, at agricultural shows, such animals can be housed right alongside cattle from the highest risk areas. If cattle from three- and four-yearly testing areas catch TB at shows, it could be years before the disaster is detected. Moreover, such cattle are exempt from pre-movement testing and can be sold to spread the risk even further. If they are bulls, the risks are huge, since they could be farmed out to many, many herds. "Both the National Farmers Union Scotland and Charles Milne, Scotland's chief vet, have recently warned that farmers 'should not even contemplate' buying cattle from TB hotspots [9]. Yet the crazy fact is that many farmers will buy cattle from low risk areas this year, without knowing that they were once housed right next to TB- hotspot livestock at an agricultural show." ENDS Notes to editors: *For further comment, contact Trevor Lawson on 07976 262388.* IMPORTANT: The Health Protection Agency makes it clear that the bovine TB risk to people is negligible. The Badger Trust is not, therefore, suggesting that visitors to livestock shows are at any risk of acquiring bovine TB. The Badger Trust fully supports agricultural shows and their contribution to the rural economy. 1. See http://www.devoncountyshow.co.uk/pressfor more information. There are well over 100 agricultural shows every year, all of which follow advice agreed by Defra and the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations. 2. See Defra's advisory booklet on pre-movement testing (http:// www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/premovement/premove-booklet.pdf), which states: "What are the exemptions from pre-movement testing? ... Cattle subject to 3 or 4 yearly routine TB testing ... Agricultural shows (provided that the animal is returned to the premises of origin or moved direct to slaughter)." 3. Pedigree cattle attract more than three times the compensation than non-pedigree cattle attract, according to Defra's current tabular valuation scheme. 4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/6760971.stm5. Farming Today This Week, 1 March 2008: "These are two young bulls that are positive and my show cow which is also positive. I'm being allowed to keep the cow until she calves. The two young bulls erm I showed them both last year they both were prize winners, they're in the top ten per cent of the breed." 6. See the Badger Trust's report on Animal Health: Over-confident and under-resourced, June 2008, Badger Trust. Available online at www.badgertrust.org.uk. See also Defra's own analysis of data gathering, which confirms that evidence gathered prior to 1999 was "not adequate for use in detailed epidemiological analysis of risk factors for bovine tuberculosis" (VLA, Analysis of the quality of the TB49 form ("Report on infection in the herd"). Defra Research Project SE3004, 2000). There is no evidence that current forms have improved this situation. 7. Mitchell, A.P., et al., An analysis of single intradermal comparitive cervical test (SICCT) coverage in the GB cattle population. Proceedings of the Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, 2006. Exeter, 29-31 March 2006. 8. Third Report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, July 2001, p42: "The key point is that annua testing of all herds will give a true measure of annual incidence whereas testing at 2, 3 or 4 year intervals will not, because some of the infections detected could have bee initiated in previous years. 9. Buglass, D. (2008), NFUS keeps disease at top of agenda, The Scotsman, 30 April 2008. *Badger Trust has moved, please note new details below:* Telephone: 08458 287878 Fax: 02380 233896 Address: Badger Trust PO Box 708 EAST GRINSTEAD RH19 2WN