Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Veterinary Epidemiology Unit, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3SB, Northern Ireland, UK.
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Statistical Services Branch, Newforge Lane, Belfast, BT9 5PX, Northern Ireland, UK.
Epidemiol Infect. 2021 May 7;149:e125. doi: 10.1017/S0950268821001096.
The role of the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) as a wildlife host has complicated the management of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. Badger ranging behaviour has previously been found to be altered by culling of badgers and has been suggested to increase the transmission of bTB either among badgers or between badgers and cattle. In 2014, a five-year bTB intervention research project in a 100 km2 area in Northern Ireland was initiated involving selective removal of dual path platform (DPP) VetTB (immunoassay) test positive badgers and vaccination followed by release of DPP test negative badgers ('Test and Vaccinate or Remove'). Home range sizes, based on position data obtained from global positioning system collared badgers, were compared between the first year of the project, where no DPP test positive badgers were removed, and follow-up years 2-4 when DPP test positive badgers were removed. A total of 105 individual badgers were followed over 21 200 collar tracking nights. Using multivariable analyses, neither annual nor monthly home ranges differed significantly in size between years, suggesting they were not significantly altered by the bTB intervention that was applied in the study area.
欧亚獾（Meles meles）作为野生动物宿主的角色使得牛结核病（bTB）的管理变得复杂。先前发现，由于对獾的扑杀，獾的活动范围发生了变化，并认为这会增加 bTB 在獾之间或獾与牛之间的传播。2014 年，在北爱尔兰一个 100 平方公里的区域内启动了一项为期五年的 bTB 干预研究项目，涉及选择性清除双重路径平台（DPP） VetTB（免疫测定）检测呈阳性的獾，并进行疫苗接种，然后释放 DPP 检测呈阴性的獾（“检测和接种或清除”）。基于佩戴全球定位系统项圈的獾的位置数据，比较了项目第一年（未清除任何 DPP 检测呈阳性的獾）和后续 2-4 年（清除 DPP 检测呈阳性的獾）的家域大小。共有 105 只个体獾在 21200 个项圈跟踪夜晚中被跟踪。使用多变量分析，无论是年度还是月度家域大小在年份之间均无显著差异，表明研究区域内应用的 bTB 干预措施并未显著改变它们。
