Seal pup 'bitten by badger' becomes first to die from bovine TB

A seal pup washed up on a British beach has become the first to die after contracting bovine TB from a badger bite, experts believe.

The ailing animal was discovered on the coast of Cornwall and had to be put down when doctors discovered the disease.

Experts think the 'unusual' incident occurred after a badger, drawn to the scent of blood as the pup's mother gave birth, nipped the youngster before it could get away.

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The Government recently started a badger cull in south-west England, following calls from farmers who claim the animals spread TB in cattle.

Details of the seal's death were revealed in a paper published this week in the Veterinary Record.

The sick animal was found suffering from a festering bite in January 2012 and taken to a rehab centre where staff tried to nurse it back to health.

It failed to respond to antibiotics and was put down and swabs were sent off to a Government laboratory for tests.

Scientists at the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency diagnosed it with a strain of TB that had likely come from cattle or badgers in Wales, Devon or Cornwall.

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It was impossible to say precisely how the seal came to be wounded but local experts say it was more than likely a badger bite.

Local vet Andy Biggs, a reviewer for the Veterinary Record, said: 'It's quite worrying to me.

'What's essentially an aquatic mammal who spends very little time on our shore, goes away with a free present of Bovine TB.

'That pup was so severely affected and untreatable that it was destroyed. It must be an indication that our policies for controlling TB in the UK are not working.'

The Government said the 'unusual' incident demonstrates that bovine TB could spread between species.

It warned that many other warm-blooded animals are susceptible to catching bovine TB, such as pigs, sheep, goats, cats and dogs.

Nigel Gibbons, the Government's chief veterinary officer, said: 'We know badgers are territorial.

'A bite wound is quite often the way badgers are infected, or other animals infected. It illustrates the possibility that bovine TB can spread from one species to another.'

A badger cull was announced for two test areas earlier in the year. Under the proposals, about 5,000 badgers will be culled in two pilot zones in the South West.

Farmers believe the cull will help prevent the spread of bovine TB among cattle but it is fiercely opposed by animal welfare and wildlife campaigners.