Bovine TB: Data
Please find below a list of examples of data that could be made available to researchers to carry out further investigations into the epidemiology of bovine TB (bTB). Please note that this list is not exhaustive.
If you would like further information on any of these databases or how to access data for research purposes only, please contact the relevant organisation listed. Please note that access to data from all datasets cannot be guaranteed and confidentiality restrictions will apply to its use and dissemination. Access is also subject to the nature and complexity of the request, staff resource available and the manner in which data are to be provided. Payment may be requested to cover staff time involved with access to some of the data.
Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) data
The RBCT was a large-scale field trial run between 1998 – 2006 by Defra and overseen by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG). The trial aimed to assess the impact of badger culling on cattle bTB incidence in parts of the country with a high incidence of the disease. Full details of the trial are available in the ISG’s Final Report 
(2.50 MB) (This is a large file size).
A road traffic accident (RTA) survey of badgers was also carried out in seven counties in the south west of England between 2002 - 2005. Details of these results are also recorded on the RBCT database.
Information on access to RBCT related data is available.
Cattle TB data
VetNet TB in Cattle system data
VetNet is Defra’s bTB control and surveillance system. The system has been in place since the mid-1990s and records details of herds, bTB tests, bTB breakdowns and the details of any slaughtered (reactors, slaughterhouse cases and direct contacts) and inconclusive reactor cattle.
For further information please email tb.datarequests@vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk.
VeBus database
For a proportion of the tests recorded on VetNet all the individual animal details (sex, breed, age and skin test results) are recorded on VeBus.
For further information please email tb.datarequests@vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk.
Badger data
Badger Removal Operation (BRO) database
Details of badgers taken during BROs during the period 1975 – 1998, as well as badgers submitted under the national RTA survey (1976 – 1997), are recorded. Examples of the type of data held include badger location, sex, and an estimate of age and results of bacteriology and post mortem examination. It also includes details of the operations themselves, e.g. area and trapping effort.
For further information please email tb.datarequests@vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk.
Woodchester Park Study database
The Woodchester Park study is a long-term ecological study of the badger in a natural habitat in Gloucestershire. Data has been recorded since 1975. Social groups are regularly trapped, clinically sampled and released. Details of trapped badgers and their sample bacteriological results are recorded by researchers at the Central Science Laboratory (CSL).
If you would be interested in collaborating with CSL in the use of such data please email badgerdata@csl.gov.uk.
Data held by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA)
The VLA TB system
This database records details of all samples coming into the diagnostic laboratory for bacteriological examination. The majority of the samples are bovine, but it includes other wildlife and domestic species.
For further information please email tb.datarequests@vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk.
The Spoligotyping and Variable Nucleotide Tandem Repeat (VNTR) database
This contains Spoligotyping and VNTR results for the above samples. For further information please email tb.datarequests@vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk.
Welsh Badger Found Dead Survey
This contains details of badgers found dead in Wales between 2006-2007. The survey was by the Welsh Assembly Government in 2006 in response to a recommendation of the Wales TB Action Group. The survey was announced in December 2005 to establish whether badgers in Wales were carrying bovine TB. This data is not yet available for release but will be made available soon. An executive summary of the report is available on the website of the Welsh assembly Government.
Other non-TB data
Rapid Analysis and Detection of Animal-related Risks (RADAR)
RADAR is a new management information system, which has been developed to collect and collate veterinary surveillance data from many different sources around the UK. Some of the data RADAR holds is available to scientists and epidemiologists for use in research projects, which further our understanding of veterinary surveillance and disease control in the UK.
For further information please visit Defra’s RADAR website or, alternatively, please email vetsurveillance@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
Cattle Tracing System (CTS)
The Cattle Tracing System (CTS) is a computer based system used to register cattle in Great Britain. Data relating to where cattle are kept is recorded by the Government so that the animals can be traced for a variety of reasons, including animal disease.
CTS records the identification and death of cattle, the movements from birth to death of cattle issued with passports from 28 September 1998, and the movements of older cattle since 29 January 2001. CTS is run by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), which is part of Defra.
For further information please visit the BCMS website or, alternatively, please email vetsurveillance@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
Defra June Agricultural Survey
The June Agricultural Survey is an annual survey of agricultural activity which collects information from carefully selected agricultural holdings in England relating to land use, crops, livestock, labour, horticulture and glasshouse. In recent years it has been conducted as a sample survey, in which data is only sought from a proportion of holdings in each year. The exception to this is in every tenth year when EU regulations demand a complete census; 2000 was the most recent occasion this was undertaken.
The survey is conducted by a postal questionnaire (or electronically via the internet) and specimen examples of forms can be viewed here. It is sent out under the authority of the Agricultural Statistics Act 1979 as amended by the Agriculture (Amendment) Act 1984; this requires the farmer to state what agricultural activity is happening on their land on a specified day in June each year.
There are currently around 210,000 agricultural holdings in England, many of which are very small. The sample sizes used in recent years are between 45,000 and 75,000, and larger holdings are sampled at a higher rate than smaller ones.
All estimates are produced using statistical methods which allow for non-respondent/non-sampled holdings, making use of past data, where available.
For further details of the survey and a wide variety of data analyses please visit Defra’s June Agricultural Survey website or, alternatively, email farming-statistics@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
Page last modified:
January 28, 2008