Angela Cassidy, Vermin, Victims and Disease: British Debates over Bovine Tuberculosis and Badgers

Extract

Vermin, Victims and Disease: British Debates over Bovine Tuberculosis and Badgers by Angela Cassidy is an ambitious account of the scientific, public and regulatory controversies about bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and badger control in post-war Britain.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One introduces readers to bTB, the cultural history of human–badger encounters and pre-1970s bTB control. The 1971 discovery of an infected badger carcass transformed bTB from a ‘seemingly well-controlled public health problem into a resurgent, poorly understood disease epidemic, which was either understood as an economic problem or a potential environmental risk’ (p. 20). The transformation occurred during a decade marked by ‘anxiety and dissent over human-animal relations’ (p. 48) and amidst memories of failed campaigns against myxomatosis and foot-and-mouth disease. It also changed contradictory popular narratives of ‘bad’ and ‘good’ badgers into ones of dangerous reservoirs or innocent victims of disease. Officials initially tried to generate consensus between farmers, veterinarians, activists and field biologists on how to proceed. Ensuing research improved knowledge about badgers’ habits and biology, increased veterinary epidemiological expertise and enhanced technological capabilities. However, field biologists and official veterinarians disagreed on the extent of the badger–bTB link. Officials responded to deteriorating relations and public controversies by taking political control of the bTB problem and commencing ‘clearing trials’ in 1974. Trials were based on the 1973 Badgers Act, which granted exemptions from protection for research, conservation and disease prevention.