Article to support publication of FCN TB Survey report: “Finding the box top: addressing the human cost of TB”
Author: Professor Christianne Glossop
TB continues to be one of the most significant health challenges facing the UK livestock sector, and yet 90% cattle herds are classified as TB free. This insidious, slow-burn epidemic continues to affect everybody and everything in its path, whether suffering a TB breakdown or not. Having farmed in the shadow of TB for decades, a culture of despondency and resignation has developed amongst farmers, vets and all those with a passion for farming and food production, believing there is little that can be done. The constant threat of infection, time-consuming regular testing and complex movement restrictions create emotional angst as well as financial pressures for most cattle farmers.
Thanks to the UK’s robust approach to surveillance regime, with infected animals being identified early, clinical signs of the disease are rare, and post-mortem examination of test positive cattle does not always reveal lesions of TB. Perversely, this seems to create disbelief, with many doubting their animals actually were infected. On the other hand, there are serious concerns about the sensitivity of current screening tests, with evidence that a proportion of infected cattle are being missed. Despite all this, eradication of this zoonotic disease is vital for the sustainability of UK agriculture.
Experience from Australia and New Zealand demonstrates that TB eradication is an achievable, if long-term goal, but national policies can only succeed when there is ownership at all levels, from farm to government. Slow progress towards TB eradication is being made across the UK, with England, Wales and Northern Ireland all adopting slightly different approaches whilst sharing a common evidence base, and Scotland making every effort to maintain freedom from disease. There are some great examples of best practice, lessons being well-learned, and local collaborative working. The role of the TB Advisory Service in England, and the Pembrokeshire Project in Wales show what can be achieved when a farmer is supported by their vet in addressing specific risk factors within their own herd.
The Brian May documentary “The Badgers, the Farmers and Me” may have divided opinion, but the results at Gatcombe Farm in Devon are compelling. A combination of rigid biosecurity, increased test sensitivity, sheer determination and huge effort on the part of farmer and vet steadily drove down levels of TB, without touching a single badger.
The FCN-commissioned report “Finding the box top: addressing the human cost of TB” explores the emotional, social and financial impact of bovine TB on farmers and the wider rural community. It is sobering to read of the fear generated by an impending TB test, and the heart-ache and hassle of breakdown management measures on farmers and their families, all put in place for the best of reasons and valid policy intent. There is a feeling of helplessness and lack of control. The pressure felt by vets conducting the tests and supporting their clients through a breakdown is immense. And yet it is encouraging to see a golden thread of hope woven through the report, which leads to a logical, practical and achievable proposal, to review the governance of TB in the UK, in order to accelerate and future-proof the journey to eradication.
And if such a recommendation takes some time to digest, there are also quick lessons to be learned, which could lead to inexpensive, immediate improvements to the TB experience which could reduce the anguish for many. Meanwhile, the need for support at farm level continues, and it is heartening to know that farmers do not need to be alone in this dilemma – help is at hand through FCN and other organisations dedicated to standing alongside farming families in the darkest of times.
The FCN report advocates ‘that a new agency, independent of government, is created for the management of TB in the agricultural sector’. Against a stark backdrop of mission fatigue and mutual mistrust, given the escalating costs, scale of the challenge and size of the prize, is it not time to give such a proposal serious consideration?
TB eradication is a complex puzzle, with many of the pieces firmly in place already, some struggling to find a fit, and some missing altogether. But the overall picture is too important and too compelling to ignore – a TB-free UK, farmers and vets with their heads held up, eyes focussing on a bright, hopeful and healthy future.