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Performance of an environmental test to detect Mycobacterium bovis infection in badger social groups
Author(s) -
Courtenay O.,
Reilly L. A.,
Sweeney F. P.,
MacDonald D. W.,
Delahay R. J.,
Wilson G. J.,
Cheeseman C. L.,
Keeling M. J.,
Wellington E. M. H.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.161.24.817
Subject(s) - library science , wildlife , ecology , biology , computer science
A study by Courtenay and others (2006) demonstrated that the probability of detecting Mycobacterium bovis by PCR in soil samples from the spoil heaps of main badger setts correlated with the prevalence of excretion (infectiousness) of captured badgers belonging to the social group. It has been proposed that such a test could be used to target badger culling to setts containing infectious animals (Anon 2007). This short communication discusses the issues surrounding this concept, with the intention of dispelling any misconceptions among relevant stakeholders (farmers, policy makers and conservationists).