Bovine TB and Otters

[Mr T]

I was watching an episode of 'country file' a few weeks ago in which Adam Henson had set up wildlife camera traps on his farm to see what creatures were visiting his land. He was delighted to see an otter but very disappointed to see a badger due to the fact he sees them as a cause for the bovine TB that has spread through his herd of cattle in recent years.

This got me thinking, given that both these creatures are mustelids, is it not possible that otters could also carry and transmit bovine TB.

I am not posting here to start a debate on the pros and cons of badger culls in the UK in an attempt to reduce the spread of bovine TB.

I would just be interested to find out if European otters can carry and transmit the disease. I have looked on the internet and not been able to find much relative information.

 

[thunder_monkey]

Many other species of mammal can contract bTB, but badgers are the best carriers as they can survive with it for long periods. A paper in the journal Veterinary Record in 2009 found no cases of bTB in the 690 otters they tested, but reported that a previous study the same year had found one infected otter from Northern Ireland.

Coincidentally, my boyfriend has recently updated his webpage on the subject of badgers and TB which discusses the subject: Wildlife Online - Badgers & Bovine Tuberculosis
(I hope it's ok to put a link here - it's not a commercial site)

Hope that helps a bit!