FFP > Livestock Breeding > Culling and Vaccination


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Livestock Breeding > [Direct Victim ¦ Indirect Victim ¦ Vaccination ¦ Government Support]

WHY WERE LIVESTOCK CULLED?

Foot and mouth isn't fatal, but survivors have reduced productivity. Neither the animals nor their meat can be sold because their tissues contain viruses.
The highly contagious disease is spread via:

wind
humans (on clothes, shoes, and car tyres)
infected meat
animal movements (the biggest cause)

All livestock touched by foot and mouth becomes worthless, so curbing the spread is priority. If one case is found, all that farm's livestock must be culled. All animal movements from that farm are banned, and contact with other farms traced. Livestock on contiguous property (within a 3 mile radius) are often destroyed as a precaution.

Many culled animals were burned on mass pyres

WHY NOT VACCINATION?

Many people were appalled by the mass culls and resulting livestock bonfires. Many saw vaccination as the humane alternative. But the government's veterinary advisors say that vaccination wouldn't have contained the disease.

The UK would lose all EU meat markets if livestock was vaccinated. Inactive virus stays in the meat of animals that have been vaccinated, and it's impossible to tell the difference between this, and the active virus found in infected meat. So the EU would never accept us as a foot and mouth free country, as vaccinated meat would contain viruses.

Alexander Johnston is a member of several committees which advises the Department of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, and Food Standards Agency.

Professor Johnston of the Royal Veterinary College explains why vaccination can't prevent another epidemic:

	Professor Johnston (0:59 minutes, subtitled audio)
	[Audio-only version. Try this if the above file doesn't work]	Still not working?

WHY WERE LIVESTOCK CULLED?

WHY NOT VACCINATION?

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