Vaccination against bovine TB : second report of session 2013-14, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee warns that vaccination against bovine TB is expensive, offers no guarantee of protection and will provide little benefit in the immediate future.

More than GBP58 million has been invested in vaccine research and development since 1994.

Deployment of the injectable badger vaccine will cost an estimated GBP2,000-GBP4,000 per km2.

The cattle vaccine is expected to cost GBP5-6 per dose and the DIVA test (which differentiates between infected and vaccinated cattle) costs GBP25.

Small-scale studies to test the efficacy of the vaccine in cattle overseas have shown the protective effect to be between 56-68%, a level of protection that won't immediately solve the problems of bovine TB in the cattle industry.

The UK needs more reliable skin tests than the current one that could miss one in four infected cows.

An injectable BCG vaccine for badgers is now available but it does not confer complete protection and has no discernible effect on animals already infected with TB.

An oral baited vaccine that can be laid at setts is likely to be cheaper and more practical, but development and deployment of it will take several years to resolve. A variety of ongoing research projects could make a real difference to the eradication of bovine TB in the United Kingdom.

These include: PCR testing to determine infected badger setts, a new type of test to identify bovine TB in cattle after slaughter, and work on a vaccine that does not interfere with the skin test.