VACCINATION REMAINS "A MASSIVE GAMBLE" -
NFU
NFU President Ben Gill today emerged from a
meeting with the Government's Chief Scientist saying he remained unconvinced of
the need for vaccination to complement the Government's current policy on foot
and mouth.
The constructive meeting discussed how the disease could be eradicated as
quickly as possible while slaughtering the minimum number of animals - but
without having to resort vaccination. It was also attended by professional
veterinary bodies which joined the NFU in voicing many real concerns.
Following the third day of talks with Professor David King, Mr Gill said:
"The battle against foot and mouth is being won - that is clear from the
reduction in outbreaks. The current policy needs to be continued.
"Going down the vaccination route would be a massive gamble and we do not
believe the odds have changed following today's meeting.
"Vaccination has never been a simple remedy to foot and mouth. The
scientific arguments alone are not clear cut and many consequential issues
remain unresolved.
"We still firmly support the Government's current strategy of slaughtering
confirmed cases within 24 hours. We also discussed how a more targeted approach
against dangerous contacts, especially sheep, might be implemented. All the
evidence is that this tough approach is working.
"We have had talks today about how we can improve the operation of this
strategy even more, ensuring that the smallest number of animals possible are
slaughtered."
As well as attending further talks today, Mr Gill has also written to NFU
livestock members setting out the NFU's reasoning. He added: "Yes, there
is likely to be a rise in cases when more and more cattle come out to pasture
from winter housing.
"But this has always been known and has been factored into the
epidemiological models on the progress of the disease. The advice we have
received is that the impact of this may well be considerably less than
predicted.
"And completely aside from our very real fears that vaccination would
simply prolong the outbreak and result in more culling in the long term, we
have still not received adequate assurances that there would be a market for
products from vaccinated animals, both here and abroad.
"The number of confirmed cases is falling and only last week the
Government was expressing optimism, albeit cautious. We must stick to this hard
but necessary route."
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