1pm update

Farmers attack proposed vaccination scheme

Special report: foot and mouth

Staff and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday April 17 2001 12.51 BST

Farmers' leaders today warned that they will not support the proposed vaccination scheme to contain foot and mouth unless the government can show why it should be adopted and that it will not further damage the industry.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) delivered its threat, which would effectively make the scheme unworkable, as ministers continued pondering whether to launch vaccination programmes in Cumbria and Devon, the two worst affected areas.

Government advisers now believe vaccination, in addition to the ongoing slaughter policy, could be the best way of halting the spread of the virus.

The government's chief scientific adviser, Professor David King, said yesterday that any such scheme would at first be limited to 500,000 cattle due to move on to pasture after spending the winter under cover.

However, the NFU warned that the government could be stopped in its tracks as ministers had so far failed to deliver satisfactory answers to a list of 50 written questions submitted by NFU president, Ben Gill.

The union said that responses so far provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff), fell short of properly addressing key issues, such as whether there would still be a market for meat and dairy products from vaccinated animals.

The NFU policy director, Martin Haworth, said: "If it [the proposed vaccination policy] is delivered on the basis of what we have seen so far then we will not support it.

"We asked [the government] whether there would a resistance by retailers in dealing in meat and dairy products from vaccinated animals. They said they did not think there would be and that simply does not answer our question. They have also failed to share the scientific arguments for introducing a vaccination scheme.

"The basic situation is still that the scientific evidence we have suggests that vaccination is an option but is not as good as the current policy [of slaughtering infected animals within 24 hours and livestock on nearby farms within 48 hours]."

Mr Haworth said that research published last week by experts at Imperial College London showed that a continuation of the current culling policy was the most effective way of eradicating the disease.

A spokesman for Maff said there was so far no timetable for an announcement on whether or not vaccination will be adopted.

The Food Standards Agency has said that there are no human health issues connected with consuming meat or dairy products from vaccinated animals.

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