Richard Potter

2 messages

Originally from: Farmtalking

Popular and highly respected UK pig vet, Richard Potter, of the Larkmead Veterinary Group died recently.

He was President of the Pig Veterinary Society from 2001–2002.

Obituary, photo and links to some of his work are online at:

http://www.pigvetsoc.org.uk/news/index.html

He will be greatly missed!

Mike Meredith

Originally from: Burkie

Dear Mike and Friends:

Mike, thanks for posting this up.

It's worth it to note that the British Pig Vet Society has stated it's case in print. This was done on their own website on MARCH 16, 2001! Now isn't that something? The very same day, the Argentinian's admitted their own outbreak to the world public, and also admitted implementing a national vaccination program in Argentina. Who says dichotomy doesn't exist?

Here is the statement from The Pig Vet Society:

"Vaccination as a long-term control strategy is neither effective nor appropriate. Available vaccines control only single serotypes, but there are seven known serotypes of the foot-and-mouth virus."

<Burkie says: Well, you know you had Type O, so why did they smokescreen us with the above remark at that time?

"The use of vaccine to control the current outbreak would destroy any prospect of the UK restoring its FMD-free status for many years – excluding us from exporting to most of our usual markets for meat, breeding stock and dairy products – unless there is a radical change in European health control policy," points out Mark White."

< Well, then, just exactly how important is the pork export market in the U.K.? Looks to me like the U.K has been importing a lot more pork than it exports, anyway?

Notes to Editors: The Pig Veterinary Society is a specialist division of the British Veterinary Association with 600 member veterinary surgeons representing all sectors of the pig industry. This includes private practitioners, academics, veterinary surgeons employed within the pharmaceutical and animal feed industries and the Ministry of Agriculture.

For further information contact:

Mark White 01482 898301 (Pig Veterinary Society, north of England) Richard Potter 01491 651479 (Pig Veterinary Society, south of England) John MacKinnon 01728 724409 (Pig Veterinary Society, East Anglia)
Grace Webster 01651 872481 (Pig Veterinary Society, Scotland)
Martin Looker 01473 823842 (BHR Communications)

(Issued on behalf of the Pig Veterinary Society c/o Mark White Senior Vice-President, Haven Veterinary Group, 34 Ketwell Lane, Hedon, Hull, East Yorkshire, HU12 8BP)

Author wrote:
Popular and highly respected UK pig vet, Richard Potter, of the Larkmead Veterinary Group died recently.
He was President of the Pig Veterinary Society from 2001–2002.
Obituary, photo and links to some of his work are online at:
http://www.pigvetsoc.org.uk/news/index.html
He will be greatly missed!
Mike Meredith

<My comments are the following:
1. It's too bad to be informed of all this good "news" after the President of the U.K Pig Vet Society has died, now. But it certainly appears to me, that some of these people had a lot to do with your cull and burn policy. (It would be interesting if Dr. Potter happens to be related to Duncan Potter or the David S. Potter family....now that would really be interesting)!

2. IT WAS YOUR OWN VETERINARY ORGANIZATIONS THAT RESISTED THE USE OF VACCINES....with the lame excuse that serotypical identification made it difficult to obtain

proper serotype I.D.

Bah Humbug

! You had a Type O outbreak in the U.K. and knew it! Besides, IAH Pirbright already had whole banks of all seven locked up in their own lab long before your outbreak.

3. There were at least four manufacturers that had Real Time PCR's in use, world-wide, that can identify any of the seven serotypes of FMD, but your vets and MAFF and DEFRA, all chose not to even try to use them!

4. The reality is: it is doubtful there was adequate supply, and ways and means to administer that much vaccine at that time, as rapidly as necessary, because there wasn't any SYSTEM in place to do so....BUT PIRBRIGHT REFUSED TO EVER DISCLOSE THAT TO THE PUBLIC. You might want to contact Trevor Drew at Pirbright and ask him about this....because Mr. Drew and I traded that very information on the NPA's Forum website on March 21st, 2001.

5. Then we heard they didn't have "Proper" types of vaccine available, then they didn't have a way to manufacture it rapidly enough.

6. And then, Guess What? Pirbright sends out all seven serotypical samples in late 2001 to at least six other European countries, Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, and two others, I believe, WITH A TAQMAN RT-PCR for testing?????????????????? Oh, that gives me a headache just thinking about it.

7. I've now read today's posts on this website about the RCVS.
And noted many of your responses...I feel and share with all your sentiments. However, I also believe your RCVS and IAH Pirbright have been less than honest with any of you folks and the world, as a whole.

8. The expression,"You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all people all of the time comes to mind." What amazes me is that professional people who have pledged their honesty, integrity, and our trust in them have let us all down. We've all been lied to by groups of individuals we are supposed to trust. "Once bitten, twice shy!" No wonder this group of ours is still banging away on our keyboards about this whole fiasco two years later!

I have been quiet for a long time.....but it saddens me to learn that a man of such prominence, such as Dr. Richard Potter, didn't come forward then, with reasonable explanations, while he was head of your Pig Vets. If not personally, he could have used his press releases to "inform educationally" the real situation that was happening at that time. Instead, he released the above statements, which have been the foundation of resistance to considering vaccination ever since!!!!!!!!!!!

That, in itself, is not only un-believeable, it is unacceptable.

All the best to all of you – let's hope we don't freeze to death this winter!

Burkie in Kansas