Summary: 1. The European badger (Meles meles) is implicated as a reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis (bovine TB) infection for cattle in Britain and Ireland. In the present study the spatio‐temporal distribution of M. bovis infection was investigated. Analyses were carried out on data from a long‐term epidemiological and ecological study of the dynamics of bovine TB in a wild population of badgers at Woodchester Park in south‐west England. 2. During the 15 years of the capture–mark–recapture study (1982–96), 3316 trapping and post‐mortem records were obtained from 1270 individual badgers. Annual prevalence of infection based on positive serological and bacterial tests varies between 10·3% and 17·7% of the population. 3. Infection was aggregated in social groups in the west of the study area, confirming the findings of previous studies. However, temporal trends in disease were not synchronized amongst neighbouring groups, suggesting low rates of disease transfer between them. 4. There was significant serial correlation in the disease status within groups over time, suggesting that infection persists for many years in some social groups. The presence of infectious adult female badgers in groups was associated with new infections, and provides further evidence for their importance in the maintenance of infection within groups. However, no statistically significant correlations were detected between the demographic characteristics of social groups and group infection status. 5. The distribution of disease reflects stable persistent foci of infection in the badger population, with limited evidence of transfer between social groups. The accurate identification of stable foci of infection would allow a range of management strategies for the control of bovine TB to be efficiently targeted in such populations. However, the extent to which this pattern of infection is representative of low‐density and disturbed badger populations is unknown.

Control of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle has proven particularly challenging where reservoirs of infection exist in wildlife populations. In Britain and Ireland, control is hampered by a reservoir of infection in Eurasian badgers ( Meles meles ). Badger culling has positive and negative effects on bovine TB in cattle and is difficult, costly and controversial. Here we show that Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination of captive badgers reduced the progression, severity and excretion of Mycobacterium bovis infection after experimental challenge. In a clinical field study, BCG vaccination of free-living badgers reduced the incidence of positive serological test results by 73.8 per cent. In common with other species, BCG did not appear to prevent infection of badgers subjected to experimental challenge, but did significantly reduce the overall disease burden. BCG vaccination of badgers could comprise an important component of a comprehensive programme of measures to control bovine TB in cattle.

The Eurasian badger ( Meles meles ) is implicated in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (TB) to cattle in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Badger culling has been employed for the control of TB in cattle in both countries, with varying results. Social perturbation of badger populations following culling has been proposed as an explanation for the failure of culling to consistently demonstrate significant reductions in cattle TB. Field studies indicate that culling badgers may result in increased immigration into culled areas, disruption of territoriality, increased ranging and mixing between social groups. Our analysis shows that some measures of sociality may remain significantly disrupted for up to 8 years after culling. This may have epidemiological consequences because previous research has shown that even in a relatively undisturbed badger population, movements between groups are associated with increases in the incidence of Mycobacterium bovis infection. This is consistent with the results from a large-scale field trial, which demonstrated decreased benefits of culling at the edges of culled areas, and an increase in herd breakdown rates in neighbouring cattle.

(1) Data on 1141 foxes from London and 1701 foxes from Bristol were used to describe the demography of two urban fox populations. These data were combined with ...

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 likely emerged from a wildlife source with transmission to humans followed by rapid geographic spread throughout the globe and severe impacts on both human health and the global economy. Since the onset of the pandemic, there have been many instances of human-to-animal transmission involving companion, farmed and zoo animals, and limited evidence for spread into free-living wildlife. The establishment of reservoirs of infection in wild animals would create significant challenges to infection control in humans and could pose a threat to the welfare and conservation status of wildlife. We discuss the potential for exposure, onward transmission and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in an initial selection of wild mammals (bats, canids, felids, mustelids, great apes, rodents and cervids). Dynamic risk assessment and targeted surveillance are important tools for the early detection of infection in wildlife, and here we describe a framework for collating and synthesising emerging information to inform targeted surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife. Surveillance efforts should be integrated with information from public and veterinary health initiatives to provide insights into the potential role of wild mammals in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2.