Data from: Farmer-led badger vaccination in Cornwall: Epidemiological patterns and social perspectives
Data files
May 14, 2026 version files 655.82 KB
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badger_test_data.csv
30.99 KB
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camera_trap_deployment_times.csv
3.45 KB
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camera_trap_events.csv
617.69 KB
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Likert_questionnaire_data.csv
568 B
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README.md
3.12 KB
Abstract
In the United Kingdom, the management of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) challenges the coexistence of people and wildlife. Control of this cattle disease is hindered by transmission of its causative agent, Mycobacterium bovis, between cattle and badgers Meles meles. Badger culling has formed an element of bTB control policy for decades, but current government policy envisions expanding badger vaccination. Farming leaders are skeptical, citing concerns that badger vaccination would be impractical and potentially ineffective. We report on a four-year badger vaccination initiative in an 11 km2 area which, atypically, was initiated by local farmers, delivered by scientists and conservationists, and co-funded by all three. Participating landholders cited controversies around culling and a desire to support neighbours as their primary reasons for adopting vaccination. The number of badgers vaccinated per km2 (5.6 km -2 in 2019) exceeded the number culled on nearby land (2.9 km -2 in 2019), and the estimated proportion vaccinated (74 %, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 40 %-137 %) exceeded the 30 % threshold predicted by models to be necessary to control M. bovis. Farmers were content with how vaccination was delivered, and felt that it built trust with wildlife professionals. The percentage of badgers testing positive for M. bovis declined from 16.0 % (95 % CI 4.5 %-36.1 %) at the start of vaccination to 0 % (95 % CI 0 %-9.7 %) in the final year. With neither replication nor unvaccinated controls, this small-scale case study does not demonstrate a causal link between badger vaccination and bTB epidemiology, but it does suggest that larger-scale evaluation of badger vaccination would be warranted. Farmers reported that their enthusiasm for badger vaccination had increased after participating for four years. They considered vaccination to have been effective, and good value for money, and wished to continue with it. Although small-scale, this case study suggests that badger vaccination can be a technically effective and socially acceptable component of bTB control. A wider rollout of badger vaccination is more likely if it is led by the farming community, rather than by conservationists or government, and is combined with scientific monitoring.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jdfn2z3k6
This dataset comprises data on badger population estimation, badger testing, and landholder attitudes. Data on cattle testing are provided in the Supporting Information.
Description of the data and file structure
The dataset comprises four files
(1) Badger population estimation - camera trap deployment times
The file “camera_trap_deployment_times.csv” lists, for each camera trap location, the start and end time and date of the data collection period. This file, together with the file “camera_trap_events.csv” provides the information needed to recreate the Random Encounter Model estimates of badger population density.
(2) Badger population estimation - camera trap events
The file “camera_trap_events.csv” lists each image captured by the camera traps, together with information on the date, time, camera station, etc. This file, together with the file “camera_trap_deployment_times.csv” provides the information needed to recreate the Random Encounter Model estimates of badger population density.
(3) Badger testing
The file "badger_test_data.csv" contains the data used to evaluate tempporal trends in badger exposure to M. bovis. Columns describe badgers' individual identity (ID), capture date, age (adult or cub) at the time of capture, sex, and whether or not they had previously received the Sofia vaccine strain. The column "years_property_vaccinated" indicates the number of previous years for which the property on which the badger was captured had been receiving vaccination (0 in the first year, 1 in the second year, etc).
The column "Test_status" reports the results of a DPP blood test conducted on serum collected during that capture event. All of the column names beginning with "Test_status....." report subsets of this column, as follows. The column "Test_status_first" describes the results of this blood testing for the first time when an individual badger was captured, with any subsequent test results reported as "NA". Likewise, "Test_status_last" describes the final blood test result for each individual, with any previous results reported as "NA". These two values are the same if an individual badger was captured only once. "Test_random" reports the single test result for each badger caught only once, and a single, randomly selected, test result for each badger caught multiple times; this is the outcome variable used in the primary analysis. The columns "Test_random2" through to "Test_random20" represent different iterations of the random selection of test results from individual badgers captured multiple times.
(4) Landholder attitudes
The file "Likert_questionnaire_data.csv" reports landholders' responses to the Likert scale questionnaire provided in Annex S1 of the Supporting Information. Each column name (Q1, Q2, etc) reports responses to the corresponding questions on the questionnaire, each of which was recorded on a scale of 1-6.
The datasets from this mixed-methods study were collected in different ways, as described in the paper.
The first two files present data from badger population estimation using camera traps and the Random Encounter Model.
The third file presents test data from badgers trapped in a population being subjected to vaccination.
The fourth file presents landholder responses to a Likert-scale questionnaire (provided in the paper's Supplementary Information)