Vaccination debate hots up
Vaccination debate hots up
Farm minister Nick Browns dramatic statement in the
House of Commons this week will have huge long-term and
short-term implications for the industry. farmers weekly
examines how tough choices need to be made on the issue
of vaccination and explains what proposals to ban pig swill
and introduce a 20-day standstill period on livestock
movements will mean for the pig and sheep industries
FARMERS may be unwilling to look after vaccinated animals if the decision is made to slaughter them all afterwards.
The Small and Family Farms Alliance has said vaccination should be used but without the automatic slaughter of vaccinated animals later. This is allowed under EU rules but would mean that the UK could not return to normal trading for at least two years.
Alliance chairman Mike Hart said: "We should place the rural economy, the protection of the UKs cattle, pigs and sheep above the value of the export market, which would be difficult to retain anyway because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak."
Mr Hart said he had been surprised that many farmers said they would prefer to have their stock killed now than have it vaccinated and have to wait months for it to be destroyed.
He added: "All the farmers Ive asked about vaccination have said that if their stock was compulsorily vaccinated with a view to later slaughter and burning or burial they would demand that someone else looked after them until the slaughter took place several months later.
"It may seem a strange attitude in an industry rearing livestock for ultimate slaughter, but even I was surprised by how widespread that attitude was."
Farm minister Nick Brown revealed the government was considering vaccination as he spoke in the House of Commons on Tuesday (Mar 27). He added he was asking the European Union for permission to vaccinate if they wanted to.
Chris Bostock from the Institute for Animal Health said traditionally all vaccinated animals were culled but this made little sense if vaccination was being proposed as a way of protecting rare breeds.
Prof Bostock also voiced some doubts over whether embryos and semen could be safely taken from vaccinated animals. "I would imagine there is a risk of it [the foot-and-mouth virus] being carried in semen."
But Keith Baker, past president of the British Veterinary Association, insisted if the country wanted to recover disease-free status it would have to kill out all vaccinated animals.
A choice would have to be made between future exports and high genetic potential flocks that people were seeking to protect, he said.
He believed it would be possible to take uninfected embryos and semen from animals before they were slaughtered. But added: "It would be a long-term process. Farmers would be losing several years and the logistics would be difficult."
Roger Cook, director of the National Office of Animal Health, suggested if vaccination did go ahead differentiation needed to be made between commercial flocks and special cases.
A case should be made to cull commercial flocks after vaccination but leave rare breeds and special cases alone, said Mr Cook.
Rosemary Mansbridge, chief executive of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, said: "We are delighted that every avenue is being explored to safeguard rare breeds. But until we have more information we are unclear what the extent of the benefit will be."
Della Evans of Bristol-based lawyers Burges Salmon said until the government set out whether it was going to proceed with vaccination there was no clear answer on whether a farmer could refuse to have his animals treated. *