UK FMD outbreak: Latest updates 8 August 2007

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The latest case of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the UK has re-opened the debate as to whether vaccination is a better method to control the spread of the virus than compulsory slaughter.

The latter policy led to the culling of some 7 million animals in the six months it took to bring the previous 2001 UK epidemic under control. During that outbreak the Government rejected the use of vaccination since it could not persuade farmers that it would both halt the spread of the disease epidemic and be cost effective for the national livestock industry. However, legislative change in the wake of the 2001 crisis means that the vaccination option must now be given more weight when formulating a control policy.

The UK's powers to control notifiable diseases such as FMD stem from the 1981 Animal Health Act, which gives the authorities powers to compulsorily slaughter infected animals and those suspected to have been exposed to an infection, to order the disinfection of premises, people and vehicles and to impose controls over livestock movements within a protected area.

A 2002 amendment to the Act enables the government to slaughter animals wherever this is necessary to prevent the spread of disease. But, this amendment also requires the minister in charge to consider the option of emergency vaccination prior to deciding on a slaughter policy and, if rejecting vaccination, to publishing the reasons for the decision not to vaccinate. Vaccinated animals would be slaughtered and compensated for at market value.

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The European Union has prohibited its member states from using routine preventative inoculation against use of foot and mouth disease since 1992. The latest FMD Directive, adopted in 2003, defines the minimum routine preventative measures against the disease, as well as the emergency controls necessary in the event of an outbreak being discovered. While the cornerstone of EU FMD control remains the slaughter of all susceptible animals on a premises, together with any other animals branded as dangerous contacts, emergency vaccination is allowed as a control strategy to contain and slow the spread of the disease.

Many critics of the UK Governments handling of the 2001 epidemic say that a vaccination policy would have prevented the eventual toll of infected animals and dangerous contacts. However, the National Farmer's Union (NFU) opposed emergency vaccination from an early stage of the crisis....

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