Jiglu: Farmtalking: Discussion: Fw: Caroline Lucas MEP on FMD

Originally from: David

----- Original Message -----
From: ...
Originally from: "Chris Keene" <...>
To: "Pruning Hooks" <...>
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 10:53 PM
Subject: Caroline Lucas MEP on FMD
"Caroline successfully
fought off attempts to weaken the report's call to use vaccination
(as opposed to slaughter) as a tool of first resort"
CAROLINE IN STRASBOURG
Foot and Mouth Disease
On Wednesday the Parliament's Foot and Mouth Committee adopted its
draft report with numerous amendments. This followed two weeks of
intensive behind the scenes lobbying by Caroline in order to
strengthen the report. The Daily Telegraph carried two articles, both
mentioning Caroline, on the Committee's deliberations, one on Monday
and again on Thursday. Caroline also did radio interviews for County
Sound, Mix 96 and Radio 4's Farming Today. Caroline successfully
fought off attempts to weaken the report's call to use vaccination
(as opposed to slaughter) as a tool of first resort. The report also
clearly states that the contiguous cull did not lead to a reduction
in daily numbers of new cases. However, less successful was
Caroline's attempt to highlight the illegality of the cull. There
will be an opportunity to re-submit amendments when the full
Parliament votes on the report in December. Since Wednesday Caroline
has received a large number of congratulatory emails for her work on
this Committee from FMD action groups and individuals affected by the
outbreak in 2001.
--
Chris Keene
90 The Parkway, Canvey Island, Essex SS8 0AE, England
Tel 01268 682820 Fax 01268 514164 Mobile 07801 250982

Originally from: mona parr

Bill,
Remember farmers are more than capable of vaccinating their own animals--they vaccinate them for lots of things already, with sufficient supplies and sensible distribution this job could be achieved very quickly. The supply of vaccine is the critical thing--Im sure I read on NOAH web site that it would take 10 weeks to prepare vaccine from antigen.
Mona

Originally from: Bill

Vaccination can be a very effective tool for disease prevention but is largely ineffective for epidemic control, which is what is being proposed here. Don't forget that in the midst of an epidemic those doing the vaccinating would more than likely be carrying the disease.

Even if you don't accept that humans easily become biological carriers (mentioned in the first eight editions of Radostits but edited out of the ninth edition published in 2000) you only have to look in Radostits to discover the FMD virus sticks to hair like shit to a blanket. (And remains there for up to ONE MONTH!!) How many vets did you see dousing their heads in buckets of disinfectant???

Enough papers written to fill a burial pit but nobody even bothered to look up Foot and Mouth Disease in the Oxford English Dictionary, nor any other dictionary for that matter. CONTAGIOUS CONTAGIOUS CONTAGIOUS. Would any of those so-called bloody experts have the vaguest idea what contagious means? I very much doubt it.

Bill.

Originally from: Bill

I would go along with farmers vaccinating their own stock but would the Government?

In these trust nobody days the Government would probably have armies of inspectors trampling all over the place during an epidemic so the end result would be the same.

The time to thrash all of this out is now, not in the next epidemic. My greatest worry is that some previously unidentified disease (or condition) will come along and in a panic the Government will start killing everything that moves.

Bill.