Re: The Chief Veterinary Officer''s Annual Report!

Originally from: Bill
                        
Pen-side testing would be largely a waste of time because antibody cannot be detected for at least five days, and anything up to 21 days, post infectiion. (A fact that was admitted by Lord Whitty in in a letter dated 20 November 2002.)

"Serosurveillance was not begun until at least 21 days after preliminary cleansing and disinfection of the infected premises had been completed. I hope this reassures Mr. Snape that DEFRA's veterinary advisors are aware of the time it takes for antibodies to be produced in response to FMD infection and the testing regime took account of this".

The most important aspect of FMD spread is however still denied by all the so-called "experts", spread by humans as BIOLOGICAL CARRIERS. For whatever reason this method of transmission has been progressively edited out of FMD reference books, finally disappearing altogether from the ninth edition of Radostits, Blood, and Gay (the reference book used by DEFRA) which was published in 2000.
                        

Originally from: Farmtalking
                        
It's not what you say it's the way you say it!

Or perhaps to be more accurate, this report illustrates just how much the Chief Vet's perspective differs from our own.

However carefully his words were chosen there is no doubt that we are miles apart when it comes to his interpretation of the Govt's actions during and after FMD.

It seems that in spite of the many promises to ensure the speedy adoption of the Govt Inquiries' recommendations, – remember their promise that the Govt Inquiries and therefore advice, would be so much quicker than a Public Inquiry and so more speedily acted upon? – little has been done and the actions taken by DEFRA/Govt seem in so many ways to go against the Inquiry recommendations anyway.

If FMD were to strike again tomorrow the same slaughter policy would be rolled out. There would be no 'Pen-side' testing and vaccination would only be adopted if slaughter targets could not be met within a given time scale.

The amendments to the Animal Health Act ensure the Govt have legal powers to slaughter and animal owners have no right to protect their stock through the Courts prior to slaughter.

To say we remain 'miles apart' is an understatement.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2003/030618b.htm