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Originally posted by citizen:
^^ That's BSE mad cow disease... not what we're talking about here. There's an outbreak of foot and mouth not BSE...

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Originally posted by young at heart:
Some are so tetchy

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ignore them and they will move on elsewhere YAH

Oldbag
It was so sad to see farmers crying and watching helplessly as their herds were slaughtered en masse.
Hopefully they will have learnt from last time and set up a proper vaccination programme.
Is F and M really rampant in Egypt?
 

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Originally posted by oldbag:
I just hope this time they don't mass-slaughter all the animals like they did in 2001.

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Yes I hope so too.


Vaccine lab link to cattle disease


Alan Schofield and Jonathan Leake | August 06, 2007


A LABORATORY that develops vaccines for the Government was yesterday identified as the suspected source of Britain's latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease as vets feared the virus may already have spread.

Merial SAS, a private research firm, yesterday agreed to suspend production of a strain of the foot-and-mouth virus it had been using to produce vaccines just 6km from the fields where the outbreak was first detected at Wanborough, near Guildford, southern England.

A cull of at least 60 animals took place on Saturday and animals at a second farm nearby were culled yesterday, government officials confirmed.

Britain banned exports of livestock, meat and milk at the weekend after the outbreak of highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease and halted the movement of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs nationwide to prevent the spread of the virus.

The British Environment Department confirmed yesterday it was investigating the government research centre at Pirbright as a potential source of the outbreak.

The Institute for Animal Health laboratory is a few kilometres from Wanborough and has been running several research programs into foot-and-mouth, some of which have involved handling live virus and testing animals for infectivity.

Merial's production plant is next to the Institute for Animal Health and has been working closely with government scientists to develop and test new vaccines.

Scientists at Merial have admitted to vets from the Environment and Farming Ministry that they had recently produced a batch of vaccines using the same strain as that found in the cattle -- 01 BFS67, isolated in a 1967 outbreak of the disease in Britain.

Britain's chief veterinary officer Debbie Reynolds confirmed the outbreak matched a strain held at the disease-research and vaccine production facilities.

"This is a strain ... that is contained in the Pirbright facility and is associated with vaccine production," Dr Reynolds told Sky News television.

Authorities were investigating biosecurity arrangements at the laboratory site, she said.

But she emphasised investigations were "at a very early stage" and it was too early to say what potential there was for the outbreak to spread.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who returned from his holiday to take control, vowed to work "night and day" to avoid a repeat of a 2001 epidemic when seven million cattle were culled andthe farming industry was devastated.

Mr Brown said he had set up internal inquiries to establish the cause of the disease.

It is understood that one of these inquiries will involve sending a team of scientists into Pirbright to assess its biosecurity protocols and see if there has been any risk of an escape.

A 3km protection zone has been set up in which all animals are subject to vets' inspection. There is also a 10km surveillance zone.

The British countryside almost ground to a standstill over the weekend, with scores of fetes, village fairs and agricultural events cancelled or disrupted because of fears foot-and-mouth was spreading.

The first three herds to be culled are understood to have belonged to Derrick Pride, 78, who runs a farm and shop in Elstead, Surrey.

He was said by friends to be "devastated". Sixty of his cattle were slaughtered.

Yesterday precautionary culling of dozens of animals was taking place on neighbouring farms.

Dr Reynolds confirmed that she was considering using vaccinations to contain the disease, should it spread.

In 2001 the Government's decision to use wholesale slaughter rather than vaccination provoked widespread public unease.

It took the decision to slaughter because farmers had told the Government that they would be unable to sell animals that had been vaccinated as consumers would reject their meat as "tainted".

Since then, however, the Food Standards Agency has made it clear that there is no scientific objection to meat from vaccinated animals entering the food chain.


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22194502-30417,00.html
 

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Originally posted by young at heart:
Some are so tetchy

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You mean me? I'm one of the gentlest around here!
You need to toughen up if you're to survive ES, though anyone with 'heart' or 'love' in their username is sure to be on the sensitive side.