"POSITIVE SIGNS" FROM DOWNING STREET
MEETING - NFU
There is a determination to stick to the policy of
no more than 24 hours between identification and slaughter of animals on farms
with foot and mouth and 48 hours for neighbouring farms, the NFU said today
Emerging from a meeting with the Prime Minister, NFU President Ben Gill said he
believed this strategy was now beginning to eat into the backlog of confirmed
cases in many areas of the country.
But a decision would need to be taken as soon as possible on whether use of
"band" vaccination followed by slaughter is needed to alleviate the
continuing major problems in Cumbria to augment the existing strategy.
Yesterday the number of animals slaughtered from farms confirmed as having the
disease (34,000) exceeded the number of new animals being identified on
infected farms (27,000), cutting into the backlog of confirmed cases by 7,000.
He stressed that this figure did not include "dangerous contacts" -
animals traced as having links with infected farms - or animals on neighbouring
farms which are still waiting to be culled.
Progress was now being made on such cases in Worcester, Exeter, Anglesey and
Dumfries and Galloway but this needed to be further speeded up. Yesterday
45,300 such cases were waiting to be slaughtered, compared with 40,300 actually
being culled.
He said: "There are some encouraging signs but we are still in a very,
very serious situation and there are still major problems in Cumbria which must
be tackled urgently.
"No firm decision has yet been taken on whether limited use of vaccination
should be made but we are pressing for a decision to be taken as soon
aspossible so that farmers know where they stand.
"We stressed once more that local farmers must be involved in this
decision-making process and we understand Nick Brown is to travel to these
areas for this to happen.
"I stress again - vaccination is not a miracle cure for this disaster. It
is not like a jab against measles where you are protected for life.
"If it is used, it will merely buy us time and dampen down the infection
in key areas - but that may be exactly what we need until such time as the
animals can be slaughtered."
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