UK: Government Formally Adopts Strategy to Eradicate Bovine TB in England by 2038 as 2026 Marks First Year in Over a Decade With No Badger Cull
The UK Government on November 5 formally adopted a long-term strategy aimed at eradicating bovine TB from England altogether by 2038. The government said the number of new TB herd breakdowns in England is down by a fifth compared with the previous 12 months, and that 2026 is the first year in more than a decade in which no badgers were culled as part of efforts to control the disease.
The multi-faceted strategy, originally published in June and now formally taken forward by the government, includes the development of vaccines for cattle and badgers, mandatory blood tests, more robust wildlife surveillance and more test choice. Biosecurity Minister Baroness Hayman said bovine TB has devastated farming communities, causing losses, uncertainty and financial hardship, and that the strategy will ensure the end of badger culling continues while preventing the spread of the disease.
Work already under way includes developing a deployable cattle vaccine alongside a new DIVA skin test, with an ambition to deploy cattle vaccination by 2030; expanding government-funded mandatory blood testing and piloting privately funded testing; rolling out badger vaccination in priority areas through a newly contracted field force; and a new scheme to collect and test found-dead badgers. The government will also establish a new industry-government board to replace the Bovine TB Partnership for England, expected in 2027, to oversee delivery of the strategy. The percentage of herds under restriction due to a TB incident at the end of June 2026 was 3.4 percent in England, down from 4.2 percent at the end of June 2025.
Source: 英国环境、食品与农村事务部
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：英格兰牧场上的牛群（资料图），Russel Wills 摄，Geograph／Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 2.0 授权 / Photo: Cattle in a pasture in England (file photo), by Russel Wills, Geograph / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
