FOOT-and-MOUTH
& BLUE-TONGUE
SEPTEMBER 30th 2007
The question of
vaccination as a UK policy for each of these diseases is complicated,
In the case of Blue-tongue we don't yet have a suitable vaccine. When
we do (it may take a year), it might be up to individual farmers to use
it. However, a government policy of protection zones would have to be
co-ordinated with this, so possibly a national regional vaccination
programme would be required.
In the case of
Foot-and-Mouth, which is carried by contagion, the vaccination masks
the detection of carriers and that complicates the issue irreversibly.
However, if the disease cannot be contained and British animals are to
be accepted for export to other countries, we are faced with a totally
unstaisfacory default position. We have to move to a pathologically and
financially controllable situation.
I have no doubt all this and more is well understood by government
advisors, but the solution to choose and the steps to take are still
optional.