Bovine tuberculosis
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a deadly disease that has impacted animals for almost a century; one we mostly associate with cattle and badgers. On this page, you’ll learn more about bTB and the animals affected, badger culling, and what the RSPCA is doing to help manage the disease.
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What is bovine tuberculosis?
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). As a respiratory disease, bTB is caught by inhaling the bacteria, often when animals are in close range of each other (through coughing and sneezing, too).
Bovine tuberculosis remains the most pressing animal health problem in the UK and has a huge impact, both financially and emotionally, on the farming community and their farmed animals.
However, cattle aren’t the only animals affected by bTB. Other mammals, including deer, goats, pigs, camels, llamas, rats, cats, dogs and badgers, can also be infected.
The main transmission of the disease is from cattle to cattle – over 94% of cattle bTB is a result of cow-to-cow infection. But because bTB is a zoonotic disease (meaning it can be passed between different species), other mammals can also spread it, including badgers.
As badgers do carry tuberculosis, they’ve long since been singled out as the main source of the spread of bTB, even though there’s little evidence that badgers can easily pass it to cattle. As a result, hundreds of thousands of them have been killed in an attempt to control the population and manage the spread of the disease. Find out more about badgers and bTB below.
Not all farmers dislike badgers – some actively protect their local badger populations. There is a lot of misinformation on the role that badgers play in spreading disease, and that is no fault of farmers or badgers.
Badgers and bTB
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) was first discovered in badgers in 1971. In 2013, the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) initiated the intensive culling of badgers.
The policy stated that cull companies and contractors can shoot badgers within specified areas, with the aim to remove up to a minimum of 70% of the badger population in each cull zone. The cull ran for 13 years up to the end of 2025 and, at its peak, covered around a third of England’s land area.
Since intensive cull licences were issued in 2013, around 250,000 badgers have been killed under licence – and likely a lot more killed illegally. Sadly, the majority of badgers culled were not tested for bTB, and previous surveys found a very low percentage of badgers were infected. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that badger culling has had no impact on reducing the spread of the disease.
We have never, nor will we ever, support the badger cull.
Badger culling is unscientific and inhumane, and does not offer a solution to eradicating bTB in cattle. The disease needs to be tackled with strict cattle measures, with the welfare of people and wildlife in mind.
Licensed badger culling
Each cull zone is required to have an intensive cull licence (also called a Badger Disease Control Licence) from Natural England. Killing badgers unlicensed or outside of that area is illegal.
Licensed badger culling is legal between 1 June–31 November, however each cull licence is active for no more than six weeks per year. Specific culling methods are not permitted at certain times of year.
Cage trap and shooting
Trapping badgers in cages at night and killing them the next morning in the cage with a rifle or shotgun. Not permitted between 1 December–31 May
Controlled shooting
Shooting badgers at night from a distance with a rifle – also known as ‘free shooting’. Not permitted between 1 February–31 May
As cull areas are not publicly known, it’s vital that you report any badger injury, death, sett disturbance or other badger crime see to the Badger Trust Reporting Centre and, if you’re witnessing it live, to the police.
Pets and bTB
It is incredibly rare for domestic pets to catch bTB from badgers.
While pets such as cats and dogs can catch bTB from badgers, they can also catch the disease from cattle, rats or any other mammal with bTB they may come into contact with.
Only a small number of infected pets are recorded in the UK, and most of those are cats, rarely dogs. Of the 8 million cats living in the UK, less than 30 each year are confirmed as infected with bTB.
Worried your pet has bTB?
Though rare, if your pet is infected with bTB, contact your vet immediately. They may show symptoms including:
Coughing or wheezing
Wounds that don’t heal (especially around the head and neck)
Weight loss
How the RSPCA helps
The RSPCA is working both independently and in coalition through Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL) to help inform and improve the UK Government's bTB management policy.
This includes providing scientific and animal welfare expertise to advocate for more effective and humane methods of bTB control, including:
- Stronger biosecurity on farms
- Low-risk cattle trading and movement
- Improved bTB testing in cattle
We advocate for a 'cattle-first' approach. As science consistently shows us that cattle are the main route of bTB transmission, we believe efforts to control the disease should be focused on cattle herds and not badgers.
Our report on bTB explains why we're against the badger cull and provides a number of recommendations on how to improve the situation. In 2019, we asked for your views on these proposals, as set out in our bovine tuberculosis consultation document. You can read more about the responses both in favour of and against the cull here.
Farmers, we need your feedback
We'd like to work with farmers to develop management strategies for bovine tuberculosis on their farms, using some of the ideas discussed in our proposals. If you're interested in talking to us about this, please contact:
- Bovine TB Team, Science Group RSPCA, Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1GY
FAQs
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There are currently no documented cases of a badger infecting a human with bTB in Britain. However, each year a small number of people are infected with bTB. This is often a result of eating the raw meat of an infected animal, or drinking an infected cow’s unpasteurised milk.
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Pets may become infected via bite wounds (for example, bitten by a rodent) or if an existing wound is infected by bacteria present in their surroundings. They can also catch bTB by drinking an infected cow’s unpasteurised milk, eating the carcass of an infected animal or breathing in the bacteria when in close contact with an infected animal.
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No, there’s currently no firm evidence that culling badgers is stopping the spread of bTB in cattle.
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The UK Government has committed to end intensive and supplementary badger cull licences in England from January 2026. We are working to ensure that badger culling will not play a part in the UK Government's new bTB eradication strategy.
