Farmers divided over vaccination

27 March 2001



Farmers divided over vaccination

By Johann Tasker

BRITAINS farmers are split over whether the government should start vaccinating livestock in a bid to bring foot-and-mouth disease under control.

The National Farmers Union has consistently opposed vaccination, saying that culling infected animals is the preferred method of eradication.

NFU president Ben Gill believes that vaccinating animals will not guarantee eradicating foot-and-mouth disease from Britain.

The British Veterinary Association is also opposed to vaccination, saying it would pose numerous difficulties.

BVA Past President Keith Baker said vaccinating too close to infected animals could cause animals to become infected before they built up immunity.

Vaccination would be a huge strain on veterinary resources and has only been used with limited success in other countries, he added.

But some farmers previously opposed to vaccination now believe it should be introduced because culling animals has not stopped the disease spreading.

The Small and Family Farms Alliance believes vaccination would help overcome the shortage of government officials struggling to cope with the disease.

Vaccination would leave Ministry of Agriculture employees free to deal with infected animals rather than other livestock, said alliance chairman Michael Hart.

“If the UK were to adopt a vaccination programme then every farmer involved is capable of carrying out that vaccination injection themselves.”

Stewart Houston of the National Pig Association said: “If you had asked us a week ago, we too would have said we were against it.”

He added: “Our views are starting to change, but we would need some pretty stringent guarantees if we were to introduce it.”

The Soil Association, which represents organic farmers, has always insisted that vaccination would help win back Britains disease-free status more quickly.

Association director Patrick Holden said: “Implementing this immediately will save further slaughter and aid the financial recovery of dependent industries.”