TB policy and the ISG's findings

Bourne, F J and Donnelly, C A and Cox, D R and Gettinby, G and McInerney, J P and Morrison, W I and Woodroffe, R (2007) TB policy and the ISG's findings. Veterinary Record, 161 (18). pp. 633-5. ISSN 0042-4900

Abstract

Letter focusing on the randomised badger culling trial (RBCT) made by Gallagher and others (2007). While the authors contrast the RBCT findings with the results of ‘previous trials in this country’, in fact no scientifically designed controlled trials of badger culling had been conducted in Britain before the RBCT. The letter states the RBCT findings are not only internally consistent, but also consistent with the results of similar studies conducted in Britain and Ireland, insofar as this can be judged on the basis of published data. The beneficial effects of RBCT proactive culling were somewhat smaller than those reported from comparable studies in Ireland ( Eves 1999, Griffin and others 2005); however, the Irish studies may have overestimated the overall benefits by analysing cattle TB incidence only from the inner cores of culling areas.

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