Coalition culls and zoonotic ontologies

Atkins, P.J.; Robinson, P.A.

doi:10.1068/a45668

Coalition culls and zoonotic ontologies

Atkins, P.J.; Robinson, P.A.

Authors

Peter Atkins p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk

P.A. Robinson

Abstract

Diseases which can pass between animals and humans (zoonoses) have been headline news several times in the last ten years. This paper looks at bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in the United Kingdom, which, although not a major health hazard for humans, has been problematic for farmers and the veterinary health institutions. At its current rate of spread, the disease will cost the authorities £1 billion in compensation to farmers for slaughtered animals and in administrative expenses over the next decade. The present Coalition government is planning to cull badgers in England because they are the principal wildlife reservoir of bTB and are said to pass infection to cattle. We argue in five stories that the heterogeneities of bTB help explain the difficulties in dealing with it. In our opinion, the present reductive set of policies would be improved by taking this ontological multiplicity into account.

Citation

Atkins, P., & Robinson, P. (2013). Coalition culls and zoonotic ontologies. Environment and Planning A, 45(6), 1372-1386. https://doi.org/10.1068/a45668

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jun 1, 2013
Deposit Date	Nov 29, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Aug 29, 2013
Journal	Environment and Planning A
Print ISSN	0308-518X
Electronic ISSN	1472-3409
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	45
Issue	6
Pages	1372-1386
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1068/a45668
Keywords	Badgers, Bovine tuberculosis, Zoonoses, Ontology.

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Copyright Statement
P.J. Atkins and P.A. Robinson 2013. The definitive peer-reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Environment and Planning A, 45(6) pp. 1372-1386, 2013, 10.1068/a45668