Investigation after foot-and-mouth incident at Pirbright

Readers' comments (8)

• Mary Critchley | 26 May 2011 3:24 pm

  "...the outbreak which brought livestock movements to a standstill..."
  
  The virus escape in 2007 surely had rather more serious consequences than that - as can be seen from contemporary daily postings here - http://www.warmwell.com/aboutfmdaug07new.html .
  
  During the months the disease was allowed - in spite of vicious killing - to spread, we saw the same sort of appalling scenes as in 2001. This was because of the insane decision not to vaccinate immediately around Pirbright. We knew the source of the outbreak, we knew the strain, we had the perfect vaccine a stone's throw away. Officialdom declined to use it.
  
  In early August 2007 Hunts Hill farm, what the journalists called the "second infected farm", had all its 362 healthy and uninfected animals slaughtered "on suspicion" -to the grief of their owner. In the second phase of disease, in September, Sally Hepplethwaite who farmed at Klondyke Farm artlessly revealed the human consequence of turning an eradicable disease into a political and economic one. The Farmers Guardian itself reported Mrs Hepplethwaite's bewilderment:
  
  "Animals are our life. I'm upset because even the cows I've had for a long time and they all had names. We will get compensation from the ministry. But it is heartbreaking. It is so quiet out there now. It's just so sad..."
  
  Yes. It is sad. And it is also crazy that were an accident to happen today, exactly the same scenario would take place. The CVO and the UK Contingency Plan may "consider" vaccination but will always put trade considerations far above veterinary ones.
  
  The Spratt report said "...adequate funding has not been available to ensure the highest standards of safety for the work on FMDV"
  Has safety substantially changed? Human error can never be ruled out and accidents will happen. We need the best state of the art technology to be ready for such emergencies - not the tragic dithering we saw in 2001 and 2007.

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment

• stumpjumper | 27 May 2011 7:38 pm

  How would vaccination be better? If vaccination was implemented, it would be on a vaccinate to kill basis. It would purely be to provide a 'fire break' in the spread. The EU would be very keen to make sure all vaccinated animals were slaughtered before exports were opened again and the audit trail would have to be spot on. I don't have the confidence in that happening during an outbreak.

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment

• richard micklethwait | 28 May 2011 11:28 am

  Surely we need to investigate the numerous rumours that the 2001 outbreak was at the instigation of the European Commission to get rid of the beef mountain.From here it seems as if the Habitat scheme was in fact a beef reduction programme that failed, so F&M was introduced to control beef production.
  Closing roads was forbidden until. after the election when it no longer mattered that voters were inconvenienced, and I was told Australasia was warned of F&M a month before the outbreak was announced here. A farmer asked why his boots were being checked for mud and was told "You have F&M in the UK"
  For instance was it true that the Government was buying scrap railway sleepers in Europe a month before the disease was announced in the UK.
  Too many people agree that this view may have substance.

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment

• Newt | 28 May 2011 9:05 pm

  Richard I totally agree, a friend of mine went shearing in Australia and before Christmas he was stopped in customs and told that we had FMD in the UK and they made him get all his equipment out and sprayed it before he was allowed in.
  
  I have heard the rumours about sleepers too - the spin doctors said that it was coincidence that they were preparing in case FMD came to the UK...but do we believe them? I wouldn't believe DEFRA if they told me the time of day!

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment

• Andy | 29 May 2011 12:33 pm

  Somebody needs to get a grip. And somebody needs to be sacked.

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment

• mechanical mike | 29 May 2011 10:47 pm

  Mary there are 7 strains of F&M which one are you going to choose there are 3-4which its likely to be but the vaccine is strain specific ie A wont cover C & so on. furthermore once you start you effectively contaminate the national herd/ flock for the vaccine requires time to become effective then it plateaus & after a while drops away, thus the animal is infecteous again so re-vaccination is required..Who told me this a DEFRA vet

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment

• cb | 30 May 2011 4:07 pm

  im sick of being told to jab my cows , for everything that can be controlled, starting with stop importing animals and deal with badgers, then stop growing strains of diseases in labs next to farms, keeping animals healthy and not riddled with vaccines has got to be the better option

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment

• Cow girl | 31 May 2011 11:14 pm

  I hope that this is the last time this sort of thing happens. We as farmers have to absorb all the cost of the hiccups these big fims make, and hope we survive the upset and financial problems that slaughtering our animals causes. When people are dealing with such dangerous substances there should be high risk proceadure in place to cover this ever happening again.

  Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment