Badger contraception, the release of poison gas into setts and research programmes into oral vaccines are all being considered to eradicate bovine tuberculosis in England and Wales.
Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, has declared his intention to reverse the spread of TB in cattle, which led to the slaughter of 28,000 farm animals in 2012 at a loss of £100 million — and then eliminate the disease entirely within 25 years. Despite opposition from animal rights activists the plan is likely to involve the culling of badgers.
Mr Paterson said: “Working together and adopting the existing technologies, but also looking ahead to new ones, I want to declare in 25 years’ time that the UK is TB-free. That is achievable. It will be difficult. But