New badger cull "will go ahead" in 2013

“Just leave the badgers alone.

If cattle cannot be farmed without killing badgers, then cattle farming in those specific areas is UNVIABLE.”

“Charles' dates seem wildly out Scientific work investigating the evolutionary origins of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex has concluded that the most recent common ancestor of the complex was a human-specific pathogen..... Analysis....has allowed dating of this Mycobacterium tuberculosis...to approximately 40,000 years ago, which corresponds to the period subsequent to the expansion of **** sapiens sapiens out of Africa. This analysis...also dated the Mycobacterium bovis lineage as dispersing approximately 6,000 years ago, which may be linked to animal domestication and early farming.

Wirth, T., F. Hildebrand, et al. (2008). "Origin, spread and demography of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex." PLoS Pathog 4(9): e1000160."”

“Don't tell him but I have copied this from Charles' web:((
He wrote this
27/12/2010


M.bovis is not really 'The Cattle Strain'.

People often call Mycobacterium.bovis "The Cattle Strain". . That is one of the major problems I believe. . When the bacteria that was causing the TB in cattle was first identified, it was named M.bovis, but as it first originated from M.tuberculosis (The human strain); it most likely first appeared in other animals, vermin or the like that scavenged at mans' "dustbins", latrines or graves; not the cattle.

In a relatively recent report, researchers examined the ancient village of Atlit-Yam, which has been covered by water for the past several thousand years, and which has yielded skeletons and some of the earliest evidence for agriculture and for cattle domestication. According to one long-standing hypothesis, tuberculosis initially infected people who drank the milk of domesticated cattle that carried a unique strain of the TB bacterium. However, new DNA data from the two Atlit-Yam skeletons provides evidence that in a community with domesticated animals, but before dairying, the infecting strain of tuberculosis was actually the human pathogen.

The researchers estimate that human tuberculosis first evolved around 10,000 years ago, when agriculture's emergence led to densely populated settlements that acted as petri dishes for infection. Tuberculosis may have infected small numbers of people before that, but the bacteria could not have spread widely in small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers.

One of the pleasures of science is that nothing remains certain forever.”

“"ackney", I doubt he would own up to that :)) Actually you may be surprised what wildlife there is in London, including badgers oh and rats by the thousands and foxes etc.etc. :((”

“Did Charlespk really say that he hadn't seen many badgers in Hackney? :))”

“Ha!ha!ha......you are catching up. The Scientist mag. and National Geographic printed that ages ago. Actually I think I referred to it in one of my comments a couple of months back and Charlespk mentioned it months and months ago. Still it's always good to be reminded.”

“All of the comments on Human TB below make chashjtownley's comment even more pertinent.

"Contrary to previous findings stating that tuberculosis passed from animals to humans, scientific research has revealed that tuberculosis passed from humans to animals instead.

Scientific work investigating the evolutionary origins of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex has concluded that the most recent common ancestor of the complex was a human-specific pathogen..... Analysis....has allowed dating of this Mycobacterium tuberculosis...to approximately 40,000 years ago, which corresponds to the period subsequent to the expansion of **** sapiens sapiens out of Africa. This analysis...also dated the Mycobacterium bovis lineage as dispersing approximately 6,000 years ago, which may be linked to animal domestication and early farming.

Wirth, T., F. Hildebrand, et al. (2008). "Origin, spread and demography of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex." PLoS Pathog 4(9): e1000160."

History of tuberculosis - Wikipedia

http://tinyurl.com/cg5ygml .

In other words Human TB predates Bovine TB by 36,000 years!

Taking all the above into account and my earlier comment which mentioned London as the TB capital of the West, how often do you encounter badgers in Newham?”

“Yes Kent actually had the highest numbers of TB possibly because of the link to central Europe and immigrants coming in via the tunnel. I believe two new cases have been confirmed this month.

Hospital patients warned over TB superbug 11 Dec 2012
by TIM UTTON, Daily Mail


Doctors warned patients and staff at a hospital yesterday after an outbreak of a super strain of tuberculosis.
They fear that dozens may have been infected by multi-drug resistant TB, which has been contracted by two patients at the Darent Valley Hospital in Kent.
Public health doctors have sent warning letters to 600 patients and staff who may have come into contact with the potentially deadly strain.


Read more: http://tinyurl.com/c4hyu6n”

“There may not be much written about their lordships mulling on the topic, but many studies including a comment in the Lancet do discuss TB in UK citizens and the impact of visitors from the developing world.

London – the tuberculosis capital of Europe

In a comment piece published today in The Lancet, Global TB expert Professor Alimuddin Zumla (UCL Infection & Immunity) calls for recommendations from a recent UK TB review to be implemented urgently to keep this re-emerging problem under control.

The UK is the only country in Western Europe with rising rates of tuberculosis (TB), and cases in London have increased more than 50% since 1999. Nationwide, there are now more than 9,000 cases diagnosed per year. The problem is becoming particularly acute in London, where 40% of all UK TB cases are diagnosed.

Professor Zumla said: "Poor housing, inadequate ventilation and overcrowding, conditions that were prevalent in Victorian Britain a century ago, are causes of the higher TB incidence rates in certain London boroughs. In all European countries TB is mainly concentrated in high risk groups such as migrants, refugees, homeless, drug users, prisoners and HIV-infected groups."

London – the tuberculosis capital of Europe

http://tinyurl.com/c9wasnb

Newham, London is TB capital of the West

Newham, in the East End, has 108 cases per 100,000 people. This is more than twice the rate in India, where there are 41 cases per 100,000, and more than Russia, where there are 91 cases.

On an average day, seven people in London show the first symptoms of TB - a persistent cough, chest pains and sweats.

The report showed that the total of cases in London last year was almost 3,000 - more than double that of New York, which has long been considered to have a serious problem and has spent $1 billion fighting its epidemic in the last decade.

http://tinyurl.com/cejed7e”

“Ha!Ha!Ha!, do not fear, I might elevate you but the House of Lords would not be where you ended up :))))
You really should try to concentrate on meaningful things and not who said what, to whom or where or when. Did you know their Lordships were also discussing TB in humans and the significance of immigrants in the grand scenario. I can't see much written about that yet, can you?”