The quest for a vaccine to tackle the global scourge of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is gaining momentum with the announcement that farm trials of a CattleBCG vaccine are about to begin on animals in England.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said the initial phase of clinical trials had been completed and the next stage will assess the safety of both the vaccine and the safety and performance of new Detect Infected among Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) skin test.
APHA added that laboratory studies which began in July 2021 have so far indicated the vaccine and skin test are safe and the DIVA test performs well under controlled environments.
The tests were performed on 10 farms with 524 participating animals, and analysis of the results is now in progress.
Scotland achieved Officially Tuberculosis Free Status (OTF) in September 2009 in recognition of the relatively low and stable incidence found in herds here, but latest figures show in 2021 in England and Wales the disease lead to the slaughter of more than 38,000 cattle and bTB costs taxpayers in England around £100 million every year.
Trials
The new field trials will involve at least five farms with 600 participating animals, 300 of which will be vaccinated with CattleBCG and the other half receiving a placebo.
They are due to be completed this year, and APHA aims to deploy the combination of CattleBCG vaccine and the skin test in the next few years.
In a joint statement the Chief Vets of Scotland, England and Wales said: “Bovine TB represents one of the most difficult animal disease challenges the world faces today.
“We are making substantial progress in developing an additional tool to help eradicate this disease with the new cattle vaccine and DIVA skin test – and are very grateful to the vets and farmers taking part for their efforts in making this work on the ground.
“If this next phase is successful, this project takes us one step closer to a vaccine to be used in conjunction with other measures to tackle this insidious disease which impacts livestock farmers across the globe.”
