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Warmwell Front Page Archive - part 1 _ Spring 2004

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Warmwell.com

June 26 - July 2 2004 ~ "For all the Commission’s huffing and puffing, Defra, it appears, has not heard or learned a thing."

Private Eye this week: Muckspreader "Under the codename ‘Operation Hornbeam’, Defra recently staged a exercise to test its ‘contingency plan’ for any future outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Presided over by ‘Baby Ben’ Bradshaw, this bizarre charade inevitably revived memories of the FMD fiasco in 2001, one of the worst governmental failures of modern times. One recalls the illegal slaughter of 9 million healthy animals, the failure to vaccinate, the obscene funeral pyres, the closure of the countryside, the devastation of the rural economy. On the most conservative estimate, this all cost £8 billion, paid for by taxpayers, farmers, rural businesses and the tourist industry...."

June 26 - July 2 ~ Were any animals given emergency vaccination in the "Hornbeam" simulation?

The press reports we have seen imply that vaccination was not used in the mock exercise. Those of us who have spent the past three years monitoring the situation are deeply concerned that DEFRA has taken Article 8 of the Directive to give carte blanche for slaughter instead of, (as it does) spelling out the special and limited conditions in which slaughter may be used.
In letters both to the EU and to DEFRA, Anne Lambourn writes:
Lambourn: The EU Directive (Article 8) permits killing of stock that have been contaminated, but it in no way authorises the firebreak culling of healthy animals "to get ahead of the disease" as in the Animal Health Act.
DEFRA's reply:
"You state that provisions for a ‘firebreak’ cull are not included in the new FMD Directive. Article 8 of the FMD Directive does, in fact, make provision for "preventative killing of animals of susceptible species", which would include pre-emptive or ‘firebreak’ culling."
However, this is to ignore the actual wording of the Article. See below. "it is NOT acceptable to slaughter animals unless epidemiological information or other evidence indicates that the animals concerned are infected or likely to have been. And before any killing does take place, the " competent authority shall notify the Commission".
Were media invitees told this during Exercise Hornbeam? Did the exercise include testing and a mock-up of the communications to the EU required? Bryn Wayt has further questions to ask - and we await an " open and transparent" report of the exercise that will give answers to such queries.

June 26 - July 2 ~ "Too much importance was attached to the trade-policy aspects, with the result that protective vaccination was not carried out even when it had been authorised."

"The action taken to control the foot-and-mouth diesease epidemics which struck certain Member States in 2001 has shown that international and Community rules and the ensuing practices have not taken sufficient account of the possibility offered by the use of emergency vaccination and subsequent tests to detect infected animals in a vaccinated population. Too much importance was attached to the trade-policy aspects, with the result that protective vaccination was not carried out even when it had been authorised......
The competent authority shall, immediately upon confirmation of the first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease prepare all arrangements necessary for emergency vaccination in an area of at least the size of the surveillance zone established in accordance with Article 21." The EU FMD Directive (See here in html version or pdf version) that came into force throughout the EU yesterday.
Yet the media have been told that firebreak culling is still on the agenda. See below

June 26 - July 2 ~ We chose the words suggesting vaccination as a tool of first resort with care, using the same phrase as in the Royal Society's report into foot and mouth

The government's present stance on vaccination, reported by the media following Exercise Hornbeam, reminds us of Labour's proposals to weaken the EU FMD Directive by making vaccination simply "an option to consider" in 2002. These proposals were rejected by MEPs. As Caroline Lucas, vice-president of the inquiry committee, said in November 2002
"socialist MEPs had been pressurising "the committee to adopt compromise amendment 10, which calls for slaughter of animals to be given consideration on a par with vaccination in future outbreaks. That to many of us is a make or break amendment. It would be devastating if it went through and would completely emasculate the report.
We chose the words suggesting vaccination as a tool of first resort with care, using the same phrase as in the Royal Society's report into foot and mouth. To change this completely undermines all our recommendations and makes it incoherent as it will not fit into the logical argument of the report."
Neil Parish, Conservative MEP and agriculture spokesman in the European Parliament, said the report findings were surprisingly strong.
"The author of the report, Wolfgang Kreissl-Dorfler, is a German socialist and it was known that Labour sent Lord Whitty over to try to make him put in the report what the British Government wanted. It is an absolute condemnation on the handling of the foot and mouth crisis by the Government. Knowstone was probably the first time the MEPs really saw the human suffering which took place during the crisis. This has had a big influence over the report so far."
(Knowstone transcripts)

June 26 - July 2 ~ " Vaccination would be used as a last resort. Slaughter is still the best solution," .

From the report in icBirmingham This is the view of a Staffordshire hotel-owner and farmer, John Lewis, quoted in the paper.
It is not the view of the The Royal Society inquiry, under the chairmanship of Professor Sir Brian Follett. The RS Society said " Given recent advances in vaccine science and improved trading regulations, emergency vaccination should now be considered as part of the control strategy from the start of any outbreak of FMD. By this we mean vaccination-to-live."
Nor is Mr Lewis' view that of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Inquiry into Foot and Mouth Disease, whose vice-chairman wrote a letter in Scotland on Sunday, 18 August 2002 which concluded: "Having examined all the issues, we recommended that for the future emergency vaccination should be a tool of first rather than last resort, with the vaccinated animals allowed to live and subsequently go into the food chain..."

June 26 - July 2 ~"Mr Bradshaw's comments caused dismay yesterday amongst those who lived through the 2001 crisis"..."It makes you wonder whether they have learnt anything at all....".

Ben Bradshaw: "We hope to avoid contiguous culling, but we have not ruled it out. "..... Mr Bradshaw said vaccination was "a very useful tool". But he said it would only be used as an alternative to culling in certain circumstances."WMN
"....During the foot and mouth crisis, proposals to use vaccination to contain the epidemic - a measure used successfully in the Netherlands were ruled out by the Government over fears it would hit the meat and dairy export trade, worth £500 million. As the contiguous cull spread, the total cost of the crisis went on to top £8 billion.
Mr Bradshaw's comments caused dismay yesterday amongst those who lived through the 2001 crisis.
Mr Gibson....: "It would be very unpopular as it was last time, because it involves the culling of thousands of healthy animals."
David Hill, who served as the NFU's Devon chairman in 2001, said the notion of contiguous culling was "ludicrous" because it took no account of the situation on individual farms. "Any culling should be based on the likelihood that an animal has come into contact with the disease. It makes you wonder whether they have learnt anything at all."
Janet Bayley, of the National Foot and Mouth Group, said it would be "extremely worrying" if the Government moved culling back up the agenda. She said European policy now placed vaccination at the forefront of the control strategy.
........ Mr Bradshaw said he hoped the exercise would demonstrate that the Government had "learned the lessons of some of the mistakes made then". See also Inbox comment

June 26 - July 2 ~ Evening of Day 6 - Exercise Hornbeam - 17,400 animals dead

Farmers Weekly interactive ".... At a briefing on Tuesday, DEFRA said by that point in the outbreak it had "slaughtered" 17,400 animals which would be disposed of via rendering or incineration...."
And did DEFRA also say that - in the simulation - it had simulated the taking of samples and carried out clinical examinations of animals of susceptible species "at least in accordance with point 2.1.1.1 of Annex III"? Was the properly qualified Expert Group involved in the simulation? Had it gone through the motions of notifying the Commission "prior to the implementation of the measures provided for in this Article." ie slaughtering those 17,400 animals?
(See below) and Article 8 of the Council Directive which comes into force throughout Europe today, Wednesday.

June 26 - July 2 ~ "the slaughter of animals on infected premises and those suspected of harbouring foot-and-mouth will remain the first options, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said."

Granada TV
It sounds as though the media have been told that firebreak culling is still on the agenda. Although amendments to the 1981 Animal Health Act were rushed through parliament in 2002 to give retrospective legality to the killing of healthy animals, the terms of the EU Directive (See here in html version or pdf version) that comes into force today has this to say in Article 8
Preventive eradication programme 1. The competent authority may, where epidemiological information or other evidence indicates, implement a preventive eradication programme, including preventive killing of animals of susceptible species likely to be contaminated and, if necessary, of animals from epidemiologically-linked production units or adjoining holdings.
2. In that event, the taking of samples and clinical examinations of animals of susceptible species shall be carried out at least in accordance with point 2.1.1.1 of Annex III.
3. The competent authority shall notify the Commission prior to the implementation of the measures provided for in this Article.
In other words, under the provisions of the now EU wide FMD Directive, it is NOT acceptable to slaughter animals unless epidemiological information or other evidence indicates that the animals concerned are infected or likely to have been. And before any killing does take place, the " competent authority shall notify the Commission".
Were media invitees told this during Exercise Hornbeam?

June 26 - July 2 ~ DEFRA would not allow the conversation to be filmed.

Didi Phillips writes to tell us that an apology has been received for 2001. " Nick has just returned from the DEFRA AH Office in Truro, Cornwall, where he was asked by the BBC to comment on "Operation Hornbeam." ..... did manage to get past Mr Anderson's minder... to talk to him, although DEFRA would not allow the conversation to be filmed.
Nick asked him why MAFF's FMD policy to control an animal health disease had resulted in the deaths of sixty farmers. Mr Anderson was totally taken aback by the question, but he apologised and said he was deeply sorry for the way in which we were treated during the FMD outbreak.
If anyone else would like to write or email him, maybe they too can elicit an apology from a senior vet ..." Read in full

June 26 - July 2 ~ Bovine TB "... 6 weeks down the road from our last 60 day test, we still have had no notification of the result"

An emailer writes, "... Alick Simmons was on Radio 4 this morning, saying that more than 4000 herds were overdue for their Tb tests.
Whose fault is that?
LVI vets get a list every month from Defra and if you aren't on it, then they can't test - or rather they can but YOU pay, not Defra!
Only when Defra give the vet instructions to test, will he get paid.
It's totally in Defra's hands, and their hands are very busy. Even more so this week with a pseudo FMD outbreak. Probably explains why, 6 weeks down the road from our last 60 day test, we still have had no notification of the result! (We have isolated the 1 slight inconclusive - but off our own and our vet's initiative)

June 26 - July 2 ~ the number of herds logged on the Defra website does not tally with BCMS 'active' holdings.

Vetnet (Defra) is showing around 96,000 herds registered as having cattle, but BCMS say that in 2003, only 81,000 holdings registered an 'event'. That is a birth, death or movement on/off. Could many of the 'overdue' TB tests be for holdings who have no cattle?

June 26 - July 2 ~ Hornbeam begins

As DEFRA puts it, "a role-playing exercise to test Government's responses to a foot and mouth outbreak" On June 30 the EU Directive (See here in html version or pdf version) comes into force throughout the EU. DEFRA has chosen to concentrate on days seven and eight of an FMD outbreak. DEFRA's contingency plan does not allow for the immediate ring vaccination of the area from "Day 1" when an outbreak is reported. DEFRA has informed the press that the exercise has been developed by the SVS.
It would be reassuring to think that members of the press who accept DEFRA's invitation to attend the Exercise are to be briefed clearly and correctly on all the issues surrounding vaccination - and that they ask pertinent questions about why it was not used in 2001: why it is not to be used as a matter of course but rather "considered" and for exactly what economic or political reasons it may be rejected yet again in the future when the technology- both rapid diagnosis and vaccination fit for any of the seven strains of the virus - exists to stop an outbreak in its tracks without any need for extended slaughter.

June 26 - July 2 ~ "...This change will enable decisions to be taken on the proper basis of disease control rather than economic and political considerations"

From Foot and mouth disease: lessons from the 2001 crisis, proposals for the future 17/12/2002 - EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OPINION OR RESOLUTION "...Despite recent changes to IOE rules, the three-month 'trading penalty' that remains against vaccination should, in the view of many authorities, be removed by future resolution of the IOE so that slaughter and vaccination are treated equally. This change will enable decisions to be taken on the proper basis of disease control rather than economic and political considerations....
......-the Commission and Member States must actively strive to bring the waiting period for regaining FMD-free status after application of a strategy of vaccination without subsequent slaughter of the vaccinated animals into line with the period used when a slaughter policy is applied, in other words, three months in both cases."

June 26 - July 2 ~ "We cannot have a situation again where there is no clear-cut policy on whether and when vaccination is used"

From the Key Recommendations of the Report of the Public Accounts Committee into the 2001 Outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease. Other extracts:
• "The Department's plans on vaccination should be clear and set out the circumstances and factors that would determine when vaccination would be adopted
• The plans should be made known and explained to all relevant parties, including farmers, vets, and representatives of the food industry.
• ...Longstanding attitudes are in need of reform....."
Read in full The EU FMD Directive (See here in html version or pdf version) is to come into force throughout the EU on Wednesday 30th June 2004. "The Department''s plans on vaccination" can hardly "be clear" when so much of what the Directive says about post vaccination treatment is not being explained nor perhaps even understood by those in DEFRA responsible for communicating this to the "farmers, vets, and representatives of the food industry."

June 26 - July 2 ~ Vaccinated (FMD) meat and confusion over the EU Directive

The EU FMD Council Directive has 226 pages. (See here in html version or pdf version) No one can be blamed for finding the language of the EU Directive unhelpful. However, Article 58 paragraph 13 of the EU Directive is key. If confusion reigns, ignorance must be admitted and questions asked at EU level by those in the UK who are making vital decisions.
Article 58 para 13 - By way of derogation from paragraph 8 a special health mark which cannot be confused with the health mark referred to in paragraphs 8(c) and 9(c), may be decided in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 89(3) for fresh meat of ruminants not subjected to the treatment in accordance with Part A of Annex VIII, and minced meat and meat preparations produced from such meat, which are intended for placing on the market in the a specific region of the Member State of origin.
Getting to the heart of the difference between fact and fiction about the treatment of meat and milk after vaccination is, of course, important for the livestock and meat industry. Vaccination itself is important for the humane and ethical treatment of animals. Anyone who says that "ordinary people" couldn't care less about what happened in 2001 are quite wrong. The realisation that government policies of mass slaughter were wrong is widespread in spite of the lack of a proper public inquiry. Even if government communications departments can ensure that the press generally print only what puts the most positive spin on DEFRA's actions, there is now a widespread loss of trust in the Ministry. There is also an awareness of just how politicised DEFRA has become. Trust will be regained only when spin is removed and we actually move towards the openness and transparency about which we hear so much.

June 26 - July 2 ~ Defra managing the statistics rather than the disease?

Paddy Swann, whose essay "Lies, Damned lies, and (Defra) Statistics." will appear in British Dairying, and who alerted us to the odd announcement of a 14% DROP in bovine TB last week writes, "I really wondered if I was blowing this up out of all proportion. But the general consensus is it's a serious misleading of the press, the public and parliament."
Extract: ".... late last year Defra were predicting a 20% annual increase in bovine Tb, but in June Mr. Bradshaw announced a 14% drop Jan.-April 2004. So is bTb under control? Or are Defra managing the statistics rather than the disease? Is the press office producing duplicitous, deceitful, dross or were the previous predictions an overestimate?"
Read in full

June 22 - June 25 ~ Farmers are told that BSE "has caused a harrowing fatal disease for humans"

The Introduction to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Advisory Notes For Farmers (Crown Copyright 2004 PB 9445) "BSE has caused a harrowing fatal disease for humans, as well as bearing heavily on people involved in livestock farming"
A Wiltshire farmer writes with his exasperated comment to DEFRA
"...I presume you mean vCJD when it states harrowing fatal disease?
Have I missed the results of some new research in which BSE is shown to cause vCJD?
As far as I know the cause of BSE is yet to be established, despite the millions of pounds spent on research. Later in the publication there is mention of transmission from dam to calf, which you state "has definitely not been proved, but is nevertheless a possibility" This is because MAFF didn't know how to conduct a proper trial with a control group.
The statement "BSE has caused a harrowing fatal disease for humans" bears a lot more heavily on me than BSE itself, given that millions of pounds has been wasted on research and an inquiry, but still it is not known what caused BSE or vCJD...."

June 22 - June 25 ~ ".. the prospect of unlimited funding, if only they could keep the scare going."

From Private Eye's Muckspreader column last week:
"one lucrative sideline soon became the search to find BSE in animals other than old cows. ..... The only problem was that, try as they might, they just could not find a single BSE-infected sheep.
Then the EU entered the act. Just in case a link might one day be found, Brussels agreed to a ‘National Scrapie Plan’. Millions of sheep must be tested, to see which were genetically most likely to contract scrapie. Steps would then be taken to stop those animals breeding, to eliminate the ‘killer gene’ from the national flock. But, with their eye still on the real prize, the scientists then came up with a brilliant new theory. It has only proved impossible to find BSE in sheep, they say, because it might have been ‘masked’ by the more obvious signs of scrapie.
Armed with this new thesis, Defra submitted to Brussels a new ‘contingency plan’, without revealing what they had in mind to Britain’s 70,000 sheep farmers. But when they called in the press to explain their new strategy, one official, Michael Beuler, let slip that, if BSE was ever found in sheep, Defra might order the killing of every lamb in Britain, 23 million in all, then forbid farmers from allowing their sheep to breed for two years. When the farmers asked whether their lambs would be tested before being slaughtered, Defra said this would be too expensive, and anyway Brussels wouldn’t allow it. ..."
Read in full

June 22 - June 25 ~ Supposed drop in TB is not what it seems

Defra have released figures (pdf file - new window)
The absolute number of new TB herd incidents (herd breakdowns) disclosed in January-April 2004 fell by 14% on the same period of 2003 (1,264 against 1,473). The proportion of new incidents so far confirmed by post-mortem examination and/or culture testing has also dropped: 48% (601 / 1,264) against 52% (773 / 1,473) in 2003 (para 4 of pdf file)
This statistical drop has been reported in the media. However, warmwell has received a message entitled "Lies, damned lies and (DEFRA) statistics."
".... If January - April 2004 is compared with the last year which had no atypical or extraordinary events, which carry Defra health warnings, then January - April 2000 is the next valid reference year with which to compare.
Number of cattle slaughtered in the same period that year (2000) = 3,100
Number of cattle slaughtered in 2004 = 7,701.
Increase = 149% .... ...Can't get the number of herds or new incidents from Defra. They say it is 'confidential' and referred me to the press office! I'd only got the monthly figures for 2000 because I'd printed them off 18months ago for another subject. After a year or so, the monthly figures on the web site are compressed into yearly, and comparison is difficult, unless one has squirreled the original away!
We've seen this before haven't we?" Read in full
Why should such statistics be "confidential" in DEFRA's new proclaimed era of openness and transparency? Can anyone shed light on this?

June 22 - June 25 ~ Vaccinated meat will not pose a problem for supermarkets.

From Tuesday's Western Morning News report on Operation Hornbeam Ian Johnson (South West National Farmers' Union) said that
" the use of vaccination to deal with foot and mouth posed problems and pointed out that supermarkets had said they would not want to try to sell meat from animals that had been vaccinated."
Which supermarket? The reporting of this in such a reputable paper as the WMN is worrying indeed. It seems that baseless arguments against which we have fought for over three years still hold sway in the minds of those who get quoted in newspapers. Their arguments are just as wrong now as they were in 2001. Vaccinated meat does not pose problems for supermarkets nor does it even have to be labelled. This argument ought to have been exploded long ago. The facts are these: Europe consumed vaccinated meat and milk for over 40 years. Supermarkets sell Argentinean beef - vaccinated at least twice - to no howls of outrage whatsoever. The National Consumer Council Press Officer, Kathryn Williams wrote in August 2001"we take the view that food from vaccinated beasts does not need to be labelled."
Perhaps Mr Johnson has also been misled by the ambiguity in DEFRA pronouncements about heat treatment and de-boning. We can only repeat as below - After vaccination, meat destined for the UK market does not need de-boning.

June 22 - June 25 ~ After vaccination, meat destined for the UK market does not need de-boning.

Possibly, officials at DEFRA themselves (many of whom are now making sincere efforts to implement the Directive) have not understood the key issues lurking obscurely in the language of the EU Directive on FMD control. The most important of these for meat producers ( Article 58 para 13) is that post vaccination and testing, meat destined for the UK market does not need de-boning. Yet paragraph 28 of the vaccination scenarios pdf posting on Defra implies de-boning for sheep meat would still be needed. Meat from ruminants for the home market does not require de-boning or heat treatment. It is essential that the UK sheep industry understands this.

June 22 - June 25 ~ The EU FMD Directive provides for derogation from heat treatments once the Protection or Surveillance Zone has been in place for more than 30 days.

The FWi report on DEFRA's real-time alert exercise, Exercise Hornbeam, stresses that "after vaccination, meat has to be heat-treated or deboned and matured until after the country's F&M-free status is established." This is not quite the case. A first glance look at what is being reported would suggest that all meat and milk would have to be heat treated in the UK for 6 months following vaccination to live - a strong argument, if it were true, for meat and milk producers to be very wary of vaccination. In fact, only meat and milk produced in the Protection and Surveillance Zones is required to be treated. (A Protection Zone has to be established with a minimum radius of 3km and a Surveillance Zone a minimum radius of 10km from an outbreak.) While it is true that the required treatments include heat treatment, deboning and maturing of meat and meat products and pasteurisation of milk, the Directive provides for derogation from these treatments once the Protection or Surveillance Zone has been in place for more than 30 days, subject to specific conditions laid down by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCOFCAH). See http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/directive/background_directive.pdf (Page 4, paragraph 7 referring to Section 6 )

June 18 - June 25 ~ The EU FMD Directive has to transposed into UK law by 30 June 2004

Detailed contingency plans are required which must cover the “worst case scenario”, including precise indications of how emergency vaccination would be implemented and what measures would be introduced in regions containing densely populated livestock areas. Contingency plans have to be reviewed regularly in the light of “real time alert” exercises in the Member States and the results of these exercises have to be submitted to the Commission.
FWi - read in full" DEFRA has announced details of a live exercise on June 29/30 to test its contingency plan for foot-and-mouth disease. The staged event, called Exercise Hornbeam, will simulate days 7 and 8 of an outbreak and will focus on the role vaccination would play in controlling the spread of disease."
The main features of the Directive (pdf file) are
• Member States have to have arrangements in place for possible use of emergency vaccination as soon as FMD is confirmed.
• New guidelines that, following emergency vaccination to live, disease free status can be regained six months after the last vaccination. This compares to a 12 month waiting period in 2001.
• The adoption of measures for zoos, wildlife parks and rare breeds.

June 22 - June 25 ~ Brucellosis, the UK Cattle Tracing System - and a threat to the last US buffalo herd

UN Observer says that the US Congress is "deciding the fate of one of the last free buffalo herds of North America." The apparent reason is a theoretical worry about brucellosis. "Hardly a reason for national panic" comments the UN Observer . There has never been a documented case of the disease being transmitted from wild buffalo to any visitor to Yellowstone or to domestic livestock. It is certainly not a reason to slaughter a national symbol of freedom, "home on the range". All this is very much a sign of the times. Animal disease can trigger slaughter even when only a possible threat to human health is suspected. When in doubt, kill should no longer be the first resort of incompetent policy makers who, for reasons of politics - i.e. their own careers - are unwilling to grasp and to make use of the knowledge of experts.

June 22 - June 25 ~ "the department has failed to grasp the fundamentals of good system standards"

Readers of this website will remember how a closed pedigree herd of cattle in Duloe, Cornwall was slaughtered in March this year. DEFRA have been unable to discover if animals from herds not free of bovine brucellosis had been imported nor suggest any other reason for the outbreak. As one insider with knowledge of the CTS put it,
"the department has failed to grasp the fundamentals of good system standards. This is reflected in the number of software glitches and the lack of agricultural know-how, and bad system assumptions that ignore the essential business practices on farms.
CTS theoretically works. However in the real world it cannot ever hope to keep 100% accurate records. Postage delays and scanning errors further compound this problem. CTS going online is a good answer, but of course again it fails to understand that not every farmer is on or has the desire, money or time to get online.
.... Premium payments are going wrong. It is a software problem in relation to how locations are held on record and the migration to another system. The system is being transferred to an ORACLE database. This is the source of the problems. It can only sustain approximately 250 users. The system is having severe problems with data still revolving around locations."

June 22 - June 25 ~ "Rufus would have to go, Mr. Norden was told over the telephone. There were no exemptions for back-yard chickens in the sweeping cull

that claimed millions of birds this spring, the CFIA man said. But this time, the CFIA did not get their chicken. Rufus, it turned out, much like the expired parrot in the Monty Python sketch, did not have enough life in him to be killed. He was and is made of rubber. "I told him that Rufus was a fake, a rubber chicken bought for five dollars. . .," Mr. Norden recalled. "There was a long silence."....." Globe and Mail (Canada) Tracing systems failures are not confined to the UK - but this is not an amusing story in the context of so many healthy chickens, parrots, and other domestic birds being summarily slaughtered.

June 18 - June 25 ~ "a legal duty on all 25 EU governments "to prepare all arrangements necessary for emergency vaccination" immediately the first animal is found to have the disease.

Geoffrey Lean in the Independent on Sunday
"...Ministers now have more than 10 million doses of vaccine stored in Britain in preparation for another outbreak, and have 50 teams supported by 25 vets to administer them.
The Government now says that in the case of a new epidemic it would aim to select a strategy "which minimises the number of animals that need to be slaughtered ... keeps animal welfare problems to a minimum ... and minimises the burden on taxpayers and the public at large".

June 12 - June 18 ~ greater openness and transparency

DEFRA's Animal health: Chief Veterinary Officer's Annual Report - 2003 concludes "Through the strategy I intend to develop stronger collaborative links with the industry and encourage greater openness and transparency in Government thinking and decision making." These two virtues are often on the lips of politicians and policy makers but not quite so often in their practice. The new CVO, Debby Reynolds, suggests that there will now be "greater" openness and "stronger" collaborative links. She thanks her predecessor for his "clear thinking and measured approach" during the past seven years. (CVO Report as HTML - slow loading of images. Right click and save target for viewing off line if your connection is slow)

June 12 - June 18 ~ Alun Michael refuses plea for pesticide buffer zones

Georgina Downs spoke eloquently on Farming Today (Thursday) about the decision and says, "Government’s very own documentation highlights the dangers of pesticides, the risks inherent in their use and the subsequent adverse health effects. This shows that they have been fully aware of the dangers but have sat on this information..." She has the support of an increasing number of leading toxicological and epidemiological experts from around the world and gets emails of support from all over the country. Supporters of Ms. Downs' campaign include Samuel Epstein, Professor Emeritus Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, Michael Meacher MP, Norman Baker MP, Caroline Lucas MEP and the Soil Association. (Press release) See also the warmwell page on Georgina Downs' campaign against pesticides.

June 12 - June 18 ~ 50th anniversary of the European Foot-and-Mouth Disease Commission held in Dublin.

FarmingLife reports: "...Among the Dublin gathering were some of the foremost global experts on Foot-and-Mouth Disease and representatives from the 33 members of the Commission.
Mr Walsh presented a number of awards to various individuals in recognition of contributions made in the fields of vaccination, diagnosis and epidemiology.
...while much had been learned by EU Member States in the aftermath of the FMD crisis of 2001, the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Commission continued to make a critical contribution, both in maintaining and preserving Europe's high animal health status, and in assisting in the control and eradication of the disease in risk areas outside Europe's borders...."

June 12 - June 18 ~ Exercise Crucible" Australia's first large-scale FMD laboratory simulation

Western Daily "NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald......"Exercise Crucible will test the readiness and ability of NSW Agriculture's laboratories to respond to a hypothetical foot-and-mouth disease incident," Mr Macdonald said. "A single case of FMD could devastate our livestock industries and our economy. NSW Agriculture laboratories provide vital testing and scientific support that would help expert staff quickly diagnose and eradicate diseases like FMD. This simulation will help improve how we prepare for and respond to such issues, should they ever happen in NSW."
Exercise Crucible will focus specifically on the State's laboratory network and its co-ordination with the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL)..."

June 12 - June 18 ~ British Columbia: 17 million chicken, turkeys, ducks and geese ordered to be gassed or shot following discovery of avian influenza at one factory farm.

What the Director General of the OIE Bernard Vallet calls "The dangerous cocktail of globalisation" is likely to lead more and more to scenes such as those described in the article. Yet one of the recommendations of the OIE International Conference on the Control of Infectious Animal Diseases by Vaccination Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 13-16, 2004 was as follows:
For ethical, ecological and economical reasons, it is no longer acceptable to control and eradicate disease outbreaks mainly by applying mass slaughter of animals.
Factory farming's industrial scale lack of concern for its sentient product and the pressures of so-called "consumer confidence" have meant that disease control is now largely in the hands of those for whom the health of animals is irrelevant. Possible measures are restricted even further, as Bernard Vallet points out, by "the slight margin for manoeuvre at the national level due to the international agreements signed under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as, for European Union members, the ad hoc directives adopted in Brussels." Many animal disease control measures are an unholy mess.
".... After the discovery of avian flu at a factory farm north of here, 17 million chicken, turkeys, ducks and geese were ordered to be gassed or shot, and the cull is nearing completion. .... Stella Purdy's award-winning show flock of 132 Black Polish chickens were among the first to be killed, in a portable gas chamber set up in her driveway. They were later found to be free of contamination.
"They gassed them eight at a time," she says. "I couldn't stand to watch so I left, but when I came back and found the barns and incubators empty, I looked around for an escapee, an egg, anything. I found out later that my son did exactly the same thing. There was nothing, of course." ......"
Guardian. Read in full

June 12 - June 18 ~ Undiagnosed paralysis, bovine - ProMED posting

Stephen J. Nelson, MA, MD, FCAP Chief Medical Examiner in the 10th Judicial Circuit of Florida points out on Pro-MED that it was an error to label the mystery disease a type cattle poliomyelitis. Such a disease of white brain matter would be referred to as a leukoencephalopathy. :
"The previous posting said: "The Veterinary Laboratories Agency [VLA] is now trying to pin down the cause of the disease, which has been described as a type of cattle poliomyelitis. Analysis of this cow's brain showed that the disease affected the white matter. This led to paralysis for 5 to 6 days, followed by death".
Poliomyelitis is a gray matter disease. A white matter disease would be referred to as a leukoencephalopathy."
While it is perfectly understandable that vets and scientists should be unable fully to diagnose an apparently new form of disease, and such an open letter from the VLA very much to be welcomed, what is not understandable and not reasonable at all is the pretence at confident certainty that we saw throughout the BSE and FMD crises. The public, still told contantly that vCJD is "the human form of BSE", are fearful of zoonoses and any new animal disease report, unfortunately, makes dramatic copy. Particularly worrying is the way people have been warned several times over the past three years (example) that in a "worst case scenario" the entire sheep flock of the UK might be "removed from the food chain" (a euphemism for mass slaughter).

June 12 - June 18 ~ Horse Passports - "...the first oddity of the scheme is why it was ever thought necessary"

Muckspreader in Private Eye last week "The latest farce brought to us courtesy of Defra stars Alun Michael, in his role as ‘minister for the horse and the quality of urban life’. This is his decision that, by the end of this month, to comply with EU rules, all owners of horses and donkeys (or, as the EU insists on calling them, ‘equines and asinines’), must have applied for an individual ‘passport’ for each of their animals. Brussels has been trying to get this system in place for years but in Britain, with more than a million horses and donkeys to be registered, it proved so complex to administer that it has several times had to be postponed. At last, however, thanks to the tireless officials of the ‘rabies and equines’ division of Defra’s ‘zootechnics section’. Mr Michael’s spectacular is ready to roll. By next March not to have a passport for each equine and asinine will be a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £5000.
The principle of the scheme, introduced to comply with EU directive 93/623 and commission decision 2000/68, is that each horse shall be given its own ‘equine life number’ (donkeys likewise), accompanied by a £20 passport showing the names of its parents and grandparents and which veterinary drugs it has been given. Thoroughbred horses must in addition have a ‘silhouette’ signed by a vet, at a cost of a further £80, showing its distinguishing marks. Defra itself admits that the initial cost of all this to owners may be as high as £18 million, with running costs of £1-2 million a year thereafter.
But the first oddity of the scheme is why it was ever thought necessary...
...In France and Germany only horses registered to take part in competitions need passports (although German officials have already detected the first horse passport forgery). Much the same applies in Holland and Greece. In Ireland no scheme is yet in place. No other countries have yet introduced fines for not having a passport. Yet so irrelevant to the UK is any need for this scheme that our ‘minister for the horse’ now justifies it by bleating about how useful it will be to have a ‘national equine database’, though he cannot explain why. ." Read in full. (We are reminded by an emailer that ALL horses require the sihouette)

June 12 - June 18 ~ "undiagnosed nervous condition" in the Cumbrian cow was, according to UK Zoonoses Group, caused by a virus not a new form of BSE

"Tests on the animal at VLA Penrith, Cumbria, showed on microscopy lesions suggestive of a viral infection in the brain. There was no evidence of a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy."
Pro-Med reports the DEFRA statement and the letter in the Veterinary Record from .J. Watson and S.F.E. Scholes of the VLA. The report and letter are followed by two comments from ProMed mail moderators about the case.

June 12 - June 18 ~ Scottish Executive to appeal against £267,000 Wallets Marts award

(See below for the report of the award on May 13 2004.) The Scotsman (Fordyce Maxwell) " The Scottish Executive is to appeal against the recent £267,000 foot-and-mouth "underpayment" award made against it by a sheriff in a case brought by auctioneers Wallets Marts Castle Douglas. The appeal was expected because success for Wallets could have opened the way to a number of other six-figure compensation claims by auctioneers who carried out valuations during the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic.
A spokesman for the Executive said last night: "There is a limited time in which to make an appeal. The sheriff’s judgment" - Sheriff James Smith at Kirkcudbright - "raises a number of complex issues which we have to explore in depth and we have started that process." ...."

June 12 - June 18 ~ Researchers caution DEFRA that some farmers in disease-free areas would be unwilling to pay the "disease levy" while it could be ruinous for those in hotspots.

WMN "Government plans to impose a "disease levy" on farmers.....a new report by the University of Reading has warned the likely cost of the levy in disease "hotspot" areas like the Westcountry would be ruinous for many farmers. The three-year study, commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, warned the costs involved "could, in some cases, outweigh current gross margins" of the farmers concerned - particularly those in the beef industry. In the first assessment of the likely costs of a levy, the Reading researchers concluded that farmers in hotspot areas would have to be charged £40 per beef animal and 0.5 pence per litre of milk for dairy herds, just to cover the costs of bovine TB. Costs would be lower if the levy was applied to the whole country, but the researchers cautioned that some farmers in disease-free areas would be unwilling to pay it. .....
Ministers had hoped to publish proposals on a disease levy last year, but the plans were delayed because of resistance from the industry and concerns by insurance experts."

May 27 - June 12 ~ "...The secrecy surrounding drug licensing is second only to defence policy."

The Food Ethics Council’s paper (pdf new window) on drug use is its opening contribution to a regulatory review being undertaken by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate on behalf of Government
".. .. consumers and farmers face tough financial and ethical decisions.
Drug-based farming makes meat cheap for consumers. But with growing evidence that antibiotic resistance in humans is partly linked to overuse of similar drugs in livestock farming, this may come at an unacceptable cost to society. ...... the real problem is that farmers and consumers are denied the means to get out of it. At the moment, the rules on drug use make it more difficult and more expensive than it should be for farmers and consumers to do the right thing.”
The paper recommends that:
• Consumers and farmers should play a greater role in licensing veterinary drugs, particularly those intended to boost production on intensive farms.
• Animal health information to farmers should be greatly improved. This may mean that companies should not be allowed to advertise prescription drugs directly to farmers, because this tends to promote drug use as the only solution, instead of encouraging farmers to work with vets to remedy the systems causing ill-health.
• The regulatory process should be open to public scrutiny.
“The secrecy surrounding drug licensing is second only to defence policy,” said Tom MacMillan. “Consumers and farmers need to work together to escape the vicious circle of drug dependence, but they can only do that with more information about the drugs they’re using and about the alternatives.”

May 27 - June 12 ~ "The minister's comments demonstrate a dismal appreciation of the practicalities of farming.."

WMN reports that "Farmers who fail to protect their herds from badgers infected with TB could be fined, the animal health minister Ben Bradshaw hinted yesterday. In comments likely to infuriate many Westcountry dairy farmers, Mr Bradshaw said the Government was considering introducing financial "incentives" to encourage farmers to barricade their farms against diseased badgers... In practice, however, incentives are likely to include such measures as withholding a portion of compensation payments or other farm payments if farmers are deemed not to have taken "biosecurity" issues sufficiently seriously.
..... Ian Johnson, spokesman for the National Farmers' Union in the South West, said it was virtually impossible to barricade farms against badgers. ..... "The minister's comments demonstrate a dismal appreciation of the practicalities of farming. Unless you are going to keep your cows locked up in a concrete shed day and night it cannot be done. Footage has been taken of a badger scaling a nine-foot fence - if they are sick and looking for food they will pretty much get through anything."
Shadow animal health minister Owen Paterson said: "There was an awful lot of emphasis on blaming farmers for the disease ...... The committee heard some farmers had put up electric fences to keep out badgers and still gone down with the disease. What are they supposed to do?"
Colin Breed .....: "The message that the Government is going to try to deal with this by penalties on farmers won't go down well at all."

May 27 - June 12 ~ " ...the extra funding the Government has allocated to Biosecurity over the next four years will assist in protecting our industry from unwanted pests and disease, and will give us the ability to act quickly to protect our industry and interests.” .. New Zealand

Following the closure of the International Vaccine Bank in June (see below) our former partners, including New Zealand, will make their own arrangements.
Scoop.co.nz "This year’s budget gives the agricultural industry something to smile about. ...
...the extra funding the Government has allocated to Biosecurity over the next four years will assist in protecting our industry from unwanted pests and disease, and will give us the ability to act quickly to protect our industry and interests.” Meat & Wool New Zealand is also pleased to see the Government taking the risk of foot and mouth disease seriously. If there was an outbreak of this disease in New Zealand, the effects would be devastating to farmers, and indeed our economy. The $404,000 (ie about £140,000) that the Government has set aside this year for a foot and mouth disease vaccine bank is a positive step to ensure New Zealand is able to respond in this way if it had to.”

May 21 - 27 2004 ~ Ben Bradshaw talks of "our successful eradication of foot and mouth disease in 2001"

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2004/040525a.htm
"... our successful eradication of foot and mouth disease in 2001. Equally, we have invaluable veterinary expertise, technicians, laboratory diagnosticians and emergency managers in the UK that can be of real assistance to other countries. The Agreement formalises the existing arrangements by ensuring that the signatory countries can rely on expert support should they face a major animal disease outbreak."
Extraordinary self-congratulation is here, just as it was in the jaw-dropping conclusion to the debate on April 30
"this House commends the action taken by this Government ..... on eradicating a major outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in seven months and on implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Royal Society Inquiries so that Government is better prepared to tackle a future outbreak of a major livestock disease."
Moreover, no mention of the "Expert group" of Article 78 of the Council Directive has been made in any statement we have seen. Should not DEFRA establish a permanently operational group of genuine experts before wishing onto other countries the sort of "expertise" we saw in 2001?

May 21 - 27 ~ Toxic foods killing thousands, UN told

TaipeiTimes
"....Countries must try to ensure food is produced, handled, and distributed more safely to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide each year from food-borne illnesses, officials told the UN-backed conference.
Recent reports .... the possibility of salmonella in raw almonds exported by a US company have underscored fears about how contaminated food can threaten people's health and disrupt international trade, said Hartwig de Haen of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)....The almonds were distributed nationwide and in the UK, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, and Taiwan. "From the farm to the final consumer, the risk of food-related outbreaks needs to be reduced."
Awareness of food-borne disease and concern about how food is produced is on the increase - and the realisation that "toxic" can mean more than "infected". See, for example, 'A Rough Guide to the UK Farming Crisis' - a new report from Corporate Watch (pdf file in new window) Meanwhile, food industry lobbyists are anxiously defending their interests at Whitehall. According to the Independent today, "the World Health Organisation published a global plan for reducing obesity rates, which included cutting sugar, fat and salt levels in food, and subsidising fruit and vegetables in canteens."
It is beginning to seem that cheap food with its empty or harmful content is making obese those in the thrall of the giant food corporations. This awareness may be good news for the producers of organic vegetables and welfare friendly meat - but not for the world's poorer populations.

May 21 - 27 ~ DEFRA publishes its vaccination protocol - with its legal basis for pre-emptive culling

http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/pdf/vacprotocol.pdf (The pdf file opens in a new window and may take a few minutes on slower machines.)
Of great concern is the definition of “pre-emptive” or “preventive slaughter”; “firebreak” cull
- This involves the culling of animals which are not on infected premises nor are dangerous contacts or necessarily exposed to the disease, in order to prevent the wider spread of disease outwith an area. Use of this power is described by a Disease Control (Slaughter) Protocol as required by the Animal Health Act 1981, as amended.
In other words, the authorities have given themselves the legal right (which they did not have in 2001) to carry out the killing of any animal on any farm, not "necessarily exposed to the disease" Regular readers will remember the fury with which Lord Moran's successful amendment on the Animal Health Bill was met by the government. Use of Statutary Instrument 843 put paid to further democratic objections.
"Veterinary and scientific advice and judgement remain vital in determining disease control strategy." says the protocol. One is left wondering exactly from where, in the absence of a permanently operational Expert Group, this information will come. The scientific advisory group under Professor Roy Anderson - whose advice instigated the mass culling policies in 2001 - would appear to be the only advisory group available. We would appreciate information to the contrary - if it exists. (Protocol as html web page)

May 14 - 20 ~ Horse Passports delay "it would be much better if the Government faced up to reality that this is a hopeless and costly piece of bureaucracy "

James Gray, Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, commenting on the Government’s announcement today on yet another delay for the deadline for horse owners to obtain a horse passport.
"It is astonishing that twelve months after the Government announced their intention to introduce these ridiculous passports, Labour are still in a complete muddle... In September 2003, they made it law that every horse owner must have one by January 2004. On realising this would be too difficult, they extended the date to the 30th June 2004. Now they have put it back once again to the 28th February 2005.
Currently, only one fifth of horses have these passports. Whilst Conservatives welcome the delay, it would be much better if the Government faced up to reality that this is a hopeless and costly piece of bureaucracy which will adversely affect horse owners and riding schools across the country.”
Read more about horse passports, including the debate in the House of Lords on February 5th last year and the Equiworld.net article "Defra's Horse Passport Pantomime"

May 14 - 20 ~ NSP: "required slaughter" of the so-called "most TSE susceptible" rare breed rams now in question - after RBST genotype survey raises concerns

DEFRA announces: " an extension to the time limited arrangements which permit keepers of recognised rare breeds of sheep participating in the voluntary National Scrapie Plan (NSP) to put off, should they wish to do so, the required slaughter of their most TSE susceptible breeding rams. Following the results of an NSP \ RBST (Rare Breeds Survival Trust) genotype survey, Defra commissioned a further more detailed study .....this detailed analysis will not be ready before the current temporary arrangements under the NSP for scrapie susceptible rare breed rams expire at the end of July 2004. ....."
The scrapie issue came to prominence when the idea that scrapie might be "masking" BSE was raised. One calm voice of reason was that of the knowledgeable Countess of Mar in the Animal Health Bill debate in October 2002,
" ... It is all supposition and theory....Every single sheep was killed in Iceland and sheep that were apparently scrapie free were brought in. Scrapie is now again found in certain valleys in Iceland. Shetland has a high incidence of scrapie in sheep. Yet, as I said, Scottish Blackface sheep do not appear to get scrapie. In Australia and New Zealand sheep do not appear to get scrapie. We need to look not only at genetics but also at phenotypes. Certain animals may have a genetic propensity to contracting a disease but they do not actually get it. We need to know why they do not get it. Much research needs to be devoted to that. ..."

May 14 - 20 ~ "... footrot is much more of a problem than scrapie."

From Improving sheep welfare on extensively managed flocks: economics, husbandry and welfare(pdf) Proceedings of a workshop held in Aberdeen, Scotland on 24 - 25 February, 2003. Edited by Pete Goddard, Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen
"The speed and rigour with which the UK’s National Scrapie Plan is being implemented means that it represents such a danger. Hill breeds appear to have a lower proportion of animals with the ‘desirable’, apparently most resistant genotype and, hence, are at risk of a considerably reduced gene pool when the Scrapie Plan rules are applied. It should be borne in mind that from a sheep welfare, as opposed to a theoretical human health point of view, footrot is much more of a problem than scrapie...."

May 14 - 20 ~ Simulated FMD exercise in Hobart

ABC.net "Efforts to prepare Australia for a potential exotic disease outbreak are continuing in Hobart today.
Thirty-five members of the Rapid Response Team are leading more than 170 staff in controlling and managing a simulated foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. ... "Earlier this year Darwin hosted Exercise 'Noonamah'. This time round they've named the stimulated outbreak after Tasmania's famous devil, Exercise 'Sarcophilus'. The crew will be tracing the movements of a hypothetical outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in a region with a large number of small producers. Director of the exercise Terry Thomas, from Animal Health Australia, says a major plank in their response will be the establishment of two control centres. ..."

May 14- 20 ~ "Possibly they were reluctant to give evidence which might expose them to being party to the alleged mistake..."

A Dumfries and Galloway report into the successful Court case brought by the valuers Wallets Marts at Castle Douglas against SEERAD over foot and mouth payments. The Sheriff at Kirkcudbright was unimpressed by the evidence from a veterinary surgeon with the State Veterinary Service and an animal health officer at Ayr.
In short, they lied.
"Why Mr McLean and Mr Milloy were disingenous I know not......"
We find it interesting that the Sheriff did not mince his words. Although tactfully finding a sort of excuse for the vet's behaviour in his alcohol problem, he nevertheless said that when it came to Mr McLean's evidence he had been caught out in a lie. This case exposes the reluctance of only two highly placed officials to tell the truth about FMD 2001. Perhaps the Sheriff's words give a clue as to why there has never been a proper inquiry into the outbreak...and why, more and more in public life in matters that concern more than late payments, officials of all kinds will lie and go on lying rather than acknowledge that dreadful mistakes have been made.

May 14 - 20 ~ FMD false alarm in Shropshire

Shropshire Star The unfortunate lambs had orf. Orf was wrongly diagnosed as FMD during 2001. Had yesterday's scare really been foot and mouth disease however, where is the Expert Group that, according to Article 78 of the new EU Directive, should be permanently operational? The Directive lists such a group's minimum responsibilities. Would DEFRA and the government have turned at once to the new independent Science Advisory Council, chaired by Professor Roy Anderson and among whose members is Professor Mark Woolhouse, a non-vet biomathematician who never retreated from his pro-culling position and who remarked early in the 2001 outbreak, "If we replace slaughter with vaccination we will almost certainly lose control of this epidemic...." (This view was refuted by a scientist with first hand knowledge.) A powerful inner circle does not necessarily constitute "the best scientific advice".

May 7 - 13 ~ Foot and Mouth in Israel: "the epizootic is thus seen as closed" No animals dead, destroyed or slaughtered

Foot and mouth disease in Israel - Final Report (OIE)
"...The only animals infected were young fattening cattle and sheep that had been vaccinated only once against foot and mouth disease (FMD), 6 months before, with a polyvalent vaccine that included FMD virus strain type O....No new cases of FMD have been reported since 17 March 2004. The epizootic is thus seen as closed thirty days after the completion of the favourable evolution of the epidemiological situation and the results of the epidemiological surveillance activities (screening, inspection, serological testing and additional studies), which indicated that the infection had not spread..."
A Pro-Med Mail moderator comments: " An overview of the FMD situation in Israel and the Middle East, with some interesting maps, is available at http://www.israel-embassy.org.uk/agriculture/ Another very interesting summary [Foot & mouth disease - Kuwait & Israel 19980722.1384] has the comments of our own Mod. AS, submitted before he joined ProMED-mail on a regular basis. I have always contended that ProMED-mail archives, available on the website, are not only a valuable historic record but also interesting reading. You never know whose ideas you might come across. - Mod PC]

May 7 - 13 ~ "South America is expected to be certifiably and patently free of FMD within a few years"

Pro-Med Mail archives Foot & mouth disease - Kuwait & Israel 19980722.1384 ..... problems were all too common, until recently, throughout South America. Thanks to their efficient vaccination programmes, overseen by PAHO, Argentina, Chile, southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay are free of FMD. The rest will follow. - Mod.MHJ"
That was written in 1998, almost five years before the UK turned its back on vaccination and instead slaughtered ten million animals including hefted flocks and irreplaceable breeding stock. The EU is not prepared to compensate the UK for way it dealt with the outbreak. See below. The cost was an estimated 8 billion pounds - and the law changed (Animal Health Act of 2002) to ensure that the government would not need, in any future outbreaks, to be held up by the objections of the animals' owners that such slaughter was illegal as well as unnecessary. Those, such as Guy Thomas Everard and Rosemary Upton, who successfully fought in the courts to keep their animals alive were fully vindicated by the continuing health of their stock. They could not do so now. See (legality of the cull)

May 7 - 13 ~ Hearing the Real GM Story

Western Morning News
"...Wednesday May 12 at 7pm in the Committee Room, Municipal Hall, Taunton, Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception will explain how worldwide industry manipulation and political collusion, rather than sound independent science, have brought genetically engineered food into our daily diet.
Also how the alarming evidence of health dangers are covered up, company research is rigged and intense political and corporate pressure is applied to accelerate the spread of genetically modified crops.
Jeffrey Smith has worked in the biotech industry for ten years and his book includes the internal memos by the US Food and Drug Administration scientists, which warn of toxins, allergies and new diseases - ignored by their superiors. When a top British scientist tried to alert the public about his alarming discoveries, he lost his job and was silenced with threats of a lawsuit.
Jeffrey Smith will also be Totnes on May 13 - for further information call Greenbooks 01803 863260 or www.Greenbooks.co.uk ..."
See also Friends of the Earth press release on Monsanto's announcement that it is stopping all further efforts to commercialise its controversial GM wheat

May 7 - 13 ~"...some seriously unique ideas about dealing with TB in both cattle and badgers"

Professor Derek Ellwood BSc. PhD. F.R.S.C. C.Chem. F.I.Biol. Consultant Microbiologist will give a talk and answer questions on the important issues of TB and other animal diseases on Friday 11th.June at 7.00pm at Penrith Rugby Club Winters Park, Penrith
It is an open meeting and admission is free. Further details: Suzanne Greenhill: Tel/Fax: 01900 822358
See also Inbox And see extract from The Observer April 2001

May 7 - 13 ~The shambles of Defra's"fallen stock" disposal scheme

Booker's Notebook "....Since May 1 last year, it has been a criminal offence for farmers to continue their age-old, harmless practice of burying fallen stock on the farm. Yet with no other arrangements in place to collect the stock, including millions of dead chickens, most farmers have been forced, with Defra's tacit consent, to break the law.
......because Britain still has not enough incineration capacity, Defra has concluded that its scheme can only work if hunts continue their traditional service to farmers by collecting larger animals....
The shambles of Defra's disposal scheme can be illustrated by the experience of Andrew Brown, a Leicestershire farmer, who, like any sheep farmer, recently lost a good few lambs during the lambing season. When he rang Defra, they said they could only collect sheep more than 18 months old and which had not been dead more than 24 hours. But they were closed from Friday to Sunday. Although they could not help with his lambs, Mr Brown did also have three ewes to dispose of.
Next day a lorry arrived from 30 miles away to take them to Stratford-on-Avon, where they were put on another truck to be taken to a renderer 150 miles away in Exeter. Here their heads were removed and trucked back to Stratford, to be tested by Defra scientists, under more EC rules, for scrapie.
Such madness would only be multiplied by a ban on hunting, leaving Defra's scheme wholly unworkable. ...... " Read in full and see also warmwell's fallen stock page

May 7 - 13 ~ UK need for rats in the sewers compared with Germany's "Green" waste food system

On the question of German pig swill (below) , we hear from Robert Persey.
"...Germany operates municipal cooking plants to which the waste food is delivered by collectors. The bins are steam cleaned before returning to the restaurants, schools and hospitals etc. The waste food is cooked under municipal control and the cooked soup is delivered by vacuum tanker to pig farms which feed 6 million pigs a year. Germany is not going to give up this practice because it is very green.
The UK has a major problem with waste food. It is either going to landfill ( with major consequences) or else it is going down the sewers. The waste down the sewers is feeding a massive rat population. However the rats are needed to remove a lot of the solidified fats that clog up the sewers. The whole issue needs to be addressed and I believe that Germany offers an example of best practice that we could learn and benefit from. I suspect that the economics would add up because the cooked swill would fund part of the cost of running such a system."

May 7 - 13 ~ International Vaccine Bank (IVB) in Britain to close in June. Update

The International Vaccine Bank (IVB) in Britain will close at the end of June "since it is no longer able to produce FMD vaccine of the quality that members now require." (BioSecurity - March 2004) Representatives of the partner countries have decided to make their own arrangements for provision of FMD antigen reserves from now on. We understand that Defra has acquired a reserve of new antigens which will be kept and maintained by a commercial company in the UK. The closure of the IVB should not affect Britain's preparedness for vaccinating against FMD. The EU vaccine bank is not affected by the closure of the IVB.

May 7-13 ~ Germany has not banned pigswill feeding

National Pig Association site reports:
"...Holland's slaughter figures continue to fall yet their exports of bacon to Britain are rising. And some analysts are wondering just where the Dutch processors are getting their supplies of processing pork - Germany, where swill feeding is still permitted?"
We understand Germany obtains much of its meat from Britain's so-called "cull-sows" via Cheales Meats. The swill producers who have lost their livelihoods without compensation following the UK decision to blame pigswill for FMD will be among those wondering why Germany, fully aware of past and current pig disease in the UK, has NOT followed suit in banning pigswill in its own pig industry. Are these pigswill-fed pigs ending up as bacon in Britain? Possibly, the Ombudsman will be wondering too.
warmwell page on the Cheales Meat/Waugh connections.

May 7- 13 ~ ”the proper surveillance system will not be put into place, the proper response system will not exist.”

IPS News Experts from the OIE, WHO, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) this week gathered in Geneva to study emerging zoonotic diseases.
".... among the causes behind the expansion of these diseases, farming practices is one of the few factors that can be reformed to help fight the phenomenon. The same cannot be said of globalisation or climate change processes, which are more complex ....
One of the experts' recommendations was improved coordination in medical and veterinary responses when new diseases appear.
The next step, agree the OIE, FAO and WHO, is to raise political awareness and support for public and animal health infrastructure. Because, said Meslin, if infrastructure is not reinforced, particularly in developing countries, ”the proper surveillance system will not be put into place, the proper response system will not exist.” An international network is essential to support countries in efforts to assess the risk of new zoonotic diseases, he said."

May 5 ~ Rapid Diagnosis test could have saved "thousands" of cows and sheep from culling

Apart from the underestimate of "thousands" when the actual number is nearer ten million,and the confusion between bacteria and viruses, it is encouraging to see this report in the Financial Times today
"....Porton Down is spinning out technology to tackle bacteria responsible for hospital infections, food poisoning and foot and mouth disease.
Scott Robinson, the man behind the biological defence system, is working with the Veterinary Laboratory Agency on an animal health version. He thinks a 20kg "soldier-proof" gene detector, designed to test for anthrax and smallpox, could have saved thousands of cows and sheep from culling during the foot and mouth epidemic by telling vets which farms were infected and which were not...."
However, the UK Contingency Plan for FMD is still apparently dismissive of such rapid diagnostic tests, one of which was actually offered to the UK in March 2001 when they could have prevented scenes of carnage and heartbreak that cannot be forgotten or forgiven while the government continues - astonishingly - to congratulate itself on the handling of the disease.

May 5 ~ "..West Nile Virus is non-native, and it is not known how it was introduced into the United States. "

From Invasive Threats to the American Homeland by Robert J Pratt Parameters, Spring 2004, pp. 44-61. As we say below, the US are taking very seriously indeed threats to its agriculture. "... the detrimental effects of invasive species and pathogens are potentially insurmountable. Local governments, state governments, environmental groups, farmers, ranchers, and scientists collectively have urged the federal government to coordinate the defensive effort and to make invasive species control a higher-priority issue....".
"....Once an invasive species becomes established, it is difficult if not impossible to exterminate it without a huge expenditure. Our history is replete with failures to control invasive species once they are established. The gypsy moth, zebra mussel, purple loosestrife, and Kudzu are just a few examples. The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in England is an example of an invasive disease being controlled, but at a high cost ($30 billion)
.... New methods of control would have to be developed, tested, and fielded .... Additionally, production and distribution of counter-mechanisms in large numbers would take significant time and resources..."

May 5 ~ FMD has become a permanent threat in Southern Africa

Irin News reports that
"the lack of foreign currency to buy animal vaccines has led to the outbreak of a variety of highly contagious cattle diseases in Zimbabwe that are threatening to spread throughout Southern Africa. As disease outbreaks continue to spread, Stuart Hargreaves, the director of the Zimbabwe Veterinary Services Department, told IRIN that the government had failed to secure funding for a comprehensive animal disease control and vaccination programme.... A senior disease surveillance and control officer in Zimbabwe's Livestock Production Unit, within the ministry of agriculture, told IRIN: "There is no improvement - outbreaks are becoming more rampant. Previously controlled diseases are re-emerging, and there is nothing we can do because there are no medicines. The little money that is there is in local currency, yet we need foreign currency to import vaccines. Communal dipping services remain suspended and we cannot promise farmers any help at the moment." He added that FMD had become a permanent threat, and encouraged farmers who could import vaccines to do so and consult the department for assistance in vaccinating their animals..."

May 5 ~ International Vaccine Bank (IVB) in Britain to close in June?

Meanwhile, we read - but have not yet been able to verify - that in June, "the International Vaccine Bank (IVB) in Britain will close, forcing New Zealand to make its own arrangements..." See New Zealand Herald

May 4 ~ The US takes the threat of bio-terrorism against agriculture very seriously

"....the federal grant to Texas A&M involves biological warfare aimed at cows, pigs, chickens, and other sources of animal protein. A successful introduction of a disease in U.S. livestock could imperil the nation's food supply. Experts say there could also be diseases introduced to animals that could then spread to humans.
Texas A&M researcher Neville Clarke, who worked on the grant proposal, says of the 60,000 scientists in the old Soviet Union who were involved in bio-weapons research about 10,000 were focused on developing diseases that attack plants and animals. He says the threat may not have disappeared with the collapse of the communist government. ..." Read in full
This grant is in addition to the £10 million granted by the US for a national centre for research into foot and mouth disease,avian influenza, Rift Valley fever and brucellosis ( reported last week )
Meanwhile in Taiwan, SARS has ensured that "crisis management networks have been established and rapid diagnostic tests and effective vaccines would soon be available." Taiwan has now established the basic infrastructure for the monitoring and treatment of the killer viral disease..... "We have come up with new ways of testing for the SARS virus, and also developed a bio-chip for its diagnosis. This bio-chip can also help to identify a host of other viral diseases..." Taiwan News

May 1 ~ "cooperative research efforts to help fight this disease" Foot and Mouth Disease Global Research Alliance.

Officials and scientists from the US Department of Agriculture are discussing collaborative research to develop better vaccines and antiviral agents against the virus that causes foot and mouth disease (FMD).
"This meeting is important to future research and prevention efforts," said Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman. "By bringing together world-class research scientists, we can more effectively focus on cooperative research efforts to help fight this disease."
"USDA and the cooperating research organizations have formed the FMD Global Research Alliance to provide tools to countries affected with FMD to slow down the virus and to ensure that FMD-free countries do not have outbreaks of the disease. The alliance includes the Pirbright Laboratory of the United Kingdom's Institute for Animal Health; the Australian Animal Health Laboratory at Geelong, part of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation; Canada's National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease Laboratory; and Kenya's International Livestock Research Institute.
See USDA news

May 1 ~ May Day, May Day - who's going to pay?

On the day that the populations of ten new countries join the EU and the last balloons begin to deflate, let us remember that the EU is not a charity organisation. For one thing, it is not prepared to compensate the UK for way it dealt with the outbreak - and with very good reason.
UK government has claimed 1499 million euros from the European Commission for the cost of responding to the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak.
In turning this down the EU speaks diplomatically of
"the deficiencies of the administrative control system."
Is the UK Government then to be congratulated? The EU considers only a sum of 378.2 million euros to be "eligible", (of which EUR 355 million has already been paid as an advance). Who then pays for the inept handling of the crisis?
Who has compensated the victims of the emotional and financial fallout of the policies?
Who - finally - is prepared to look again at what was done and say, "We are sorry. It won't happen again"?
The government "bore down" on the disease with its "pre-emptive" mass slaughtering, and is still resolved in its present Contingency Plan to stick to its militaristic terminology, so appropriate for the current mindset of "kill before you think."
As Magnus Linklater wrote in February, "The contingency plans for a future outbreak are cast in belligerent language. They speak of war and peace. Next time there will be a “war cabinet” to ensure that the slaughter is carried out more quickly..."

May 1 ~ "Be bloody, bold and resolute and laugh to scorn the power of man..."

- a bloody resolution at the end of Thursday's debate from a government which, like the doomed Macbeth, both scorns its people and underestimates them.
...it was resolved that
".... this House commends the action taken by this Government....congratulates the Government on eradicating a major outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in seven months and on implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Royal Society Inquiries so that Government is better prepared to tackle a future outbreak of a major livestock disease..."
By piling its absent MPs into the Chamber at the last minute in order to vote for this statement when there has been so much so much evidence to show that the opposite is true, the government further erodes public trust. Few now believe in its willingness to look honestly at the issues. As one respected emailer puts it, " by exonerating its dreadful handling of the crisis the Government deludes and deceives only itself. Only the Government could be so crass as to believe its actions require any congratulations - in the face of so much factual evidence and data to the contrary."

April 30 ~ "Crucially, we also know that cattle would be culled again.

That is still the official policy of the Government and this Parliament, and we are not going to disagree with the Government. A future outbreak will be controlled by a cull. .." Hansard
Unbelievable. It is as if all the desperate work of so many of us for the past three long years has been utterly in vain. But if a cull of healthy animals were tried again, the outcry would not be confined to the UK. As the OIE press release last week put it:
"During his intervention at the conference, the Director General of the OIE, Dr. Bernard Vallat said that this situation was no longer acceptable either to the international scientific community or to the public at large the more so that in many areas of the world, human beings are still being deprived of valuable proteins in their diet. “It is urgent that scientists come forward with alternative methods of disease control .."

April 26 - May 1 ~ "the Government, far from reassuring people and answering their questions and concerns, have simply chosen to ignore them...

...However, those questions and concerns will not go away." In the Animal and Plant Diseases debate on Thursday, Theresa May called for a public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth outbreakShe called it “possibly the blackest period in modern history for British agriculture. " The Government benches were deserted during this debate. Only Ben Bradshaw and a pitiful handful were there to hear the debate in spite of the fact that there had been a week's notice. Mrs May commented: "...for three Ministers to fail to respond to a debate on a subject that threatens the livelihood of British farmers is not only to treat the House with contempt, but sends a clear message to farmers that the Government are not interested in them or their future."
“We owe it to all of the farmers affected to ensure this can never happen again. But I have yet to meet a farmer who believes we are better prepared now.
The Government has lost the confidence of the farming industry over their ability to prevent disease entering Britain.”
... "Since it became public knowledge that we were holding this debate, my staff have fielded a stream of telephone calls, e-mails and messages from people throughout the country. Those people feel strongly about the issue: each has something to say, and is able to uncover another piece of the jigsaw in respect of what happened in the outbreak......
.... the Government have not put in place the inquiry that is necessary to make sure that we get answers on why the outbreak occurred and the disease came into the country. ..
...We now know, of course, that an internal DEFRA investigation has cleared Ministers and officials of any wrongdoing or attempt to mislead. I might add that the existence of that internal investigation was revealed only after it had concluded that everything was above board and squeaky clean. That will give no reassurance to the many farmers who want to get to the truth. ... "
See Hansard for the full debate.

April 26 - May 1 ~ Mr Ben Bradshaw insisted that the Government had learned the lessons of the disaster

"...we have learned the lessons from that outbreak. We have taken new legislation through Parliament to ensure that we have better powers to tackle not just foot and mouth, but other exotic diseases in future. We have put in place new measures to protect against the import and spread of disease, and we have consulted on and published detailed contingency plans for tackling those diseases in the event of an outbreak."
Readers of this website will know that the "better powers" means the draconian new clauses in the Animal Health Act, making it retrospecively legal to slaughter healthy animals at the Minister's discretion and making it illegal for anyone to object, "new measures to protect against the import and spread of disease" can be summed up as two sniffer dogs and warning posters, and that the contingency plans fail still to take account of state of the art vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests and still talk of creating "fire-breaks". Mr Bradshaw might do well to re-read the conclusions of the EU Temporary Committee on the handling of the crisis by his government
"....the lack of effective contingency plans, inadequately informed veterinary staff, staff shortages at the locally established disease control units, and violations of animal welfare legislation during culls and in connection with the ‘standstill’. In individual cases, it was also reported that farmers who were affected had been intimidated and pressurised in connection with the culls. These shortcomings and the sometimes inadequate information policy caused considerable stress among those concerned, many of whom were still suffering psychologically as a result months after the crisis."

April 26 - May 1 ~ Mrs May spoke of the 10 million animals slaughtered during the foot and mouth crisis

- a conservative figure but one that at least is nearer the truth than the figure of "four million animals slaughtered" which we see hear and deplore on all sides, a figure used even by Farming Today which ought to know better. See 10 million animals were slaughtered in foot and mouth cull by Robert Uhlig in the Telegraph, Jan 23 2002.

April 26 - May 1 ~ Horse export disappointment "There is now nothing stopping the Government from going for a complete ban under the existing legislation..."

WMN quoting MEP Neil Parish "In theory they could be challenged by the European Commission, but in practice that seems very unlikely. We need ministers to have courage because the existing situation does not provide enough protection for our horses and ponies."

April 26 - May 1 ~ "Should the virus reach Australia, rapid diagnostic tests would ensure appropriate control and public health measures are implemented quickly."

In view of the paragraph below on China's new tests and what we feel is an urgent need for international cooperation to reduce the time needed for research and development into the control and eradication of disease, here again is a news report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation of Australia last month (March 9 2004)
"...As the new tests will be based on molecular technologies it is expected that the two to three days it currently takes to detect H5N1 will be reduced to less than six hours.
"The tests should be available for use in laboratories by September 2004," Dr Prowse says.
The new tests will be developed within the microbiologically secure environment of CSIRO Livestock Industries' Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Victoria. AAHL Director, Dr Martyn Jeggo, says the tests will be developed using technologies such as real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). ..."
100 million chickens were killed in the mass cull during avian influenza. As Dr Bernard Vallet, Director General of the OIE says, this situation is no longer acceptable "either to the international scientific community or to the public at large - the more so that in many areas of the world, human beings are still being deprived of valuable proteins in their diet. ..It is urgent that scientists come forward with alternative methods of disease control that will not only avoid wastage of valuable animal proteins but that will also promote the international trade of animals and animal products by removing technically unjustified trade barriers caused by animal diseases."

April 26 - May 1 ~ China's new RT-PCR reagent kit is able to test three subgroups of avian influenza viruses simultaneously

See xinhuanet.com
"...Experts from the appraisal team held that the test reagent kit is efficient and easy to use. It is suitable for poultry quarantine, human disease control and epidemiological investigation. ......As early as in August 2002, the local quarantine bureau began to employ the fluorescent RT-PCR test approach to examine poultry to be supplied to Hong Kong, and it took about four hours to get the test result. To lower the test cost and raise test efficiency, researchers from the bureau have worked with their fellows from the Shenzhen Taitai Gene Co., Ltd. for three months to develop a new-type fluorescent RT-PCP reagent kit.
The scientific outcome, with independent patent, has met the world standards..."
This illustrates yet again the need for international openness and co operation on what the OIE calls the best “state of the art” scientific knowledge on the use of appropriate diagnostic tests.

April 26 - May 1 ~ "We are bitterly disappointed and frustrated..

that improvements to the current conditions in which horses are transported into and across the EU for slaughter, will not now be introduced. This was an opportunity to improve the current situation where horses and donkeys suffer unnecessarily due to excessively long journeys and lack of rest periods with many journeys taking days to reach the slaughter house. This is a situation that can now only get worse with the imminent enlargement of the EU and the loss of border inspection posts.” Jo White, Campaigns Manager at the ILPH

April 26 - May 1 ~ "The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code and the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals have thus been updated"

OIE press release
" to include the latest diagnostic tests capable of differentiating vaccinated from infected animals. With specific regard to the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, it is worth mentioning that these tests have already been applied to certain diseases such as FMD, and are being considered for other as regards disease control and recovery of disease free status following disease outbreaks."
No doubt DEFRA is as aware of this as we are and will be discussing with their stakeholders the significant move forward by the OIE. (See also Inbox for April 26 2004)

April 26 - May 1 ~ "...a spokesman for Mr Michael last week refused to divulge whether Mrs Beckett would take public opinion on board...

and back an opt-out banning the export for slaughter of horses, ponies and donkeys.
Margaret Beckett, who along with her junior colleague, Minister for the Horse, Alun Michael, has consistently refused to ask for a clause protecting British horses, will meet fellow agriculture ministers from EU countries for the Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg. One of the items for discussion and vote is a draft EU Regulation on the transport of animals....(11.00 am update:)...officials continuing to insist that a simple ban on the trade would be legally unenforceable....The UK has been putting forward proposals which have been adopted in the run-up to the council and these include the requirement that all horses on a lorry be transported in single stalls, this is partly welfare and partly economics. Mr Bradshaw will be proposing a clause restricting the transportation of unbroken ponies, horses and donkeys to short road journeys and groups of four - which he claims would prevent low value moorland ponies from being exported.
. James Gray warned that the Government would not be forgiven if it failed to take up the opt-out clause being offered by Europe. ." See WMN and horse export page

April 26 - May 1 ~ DEFRA pays one of its bills

The Western Morning News reports, "DEFRA PAYS UP AT LAST
A Westcountry farming contractor owed £1.2 million for vital work carried out during the foot and mouth crisis has finally been paid, after a "nightmare" three-year battle with the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. ...The settlement was hailed as a major victory by small business campaigners who claim that Defra has used heavy-handed tactics and spurious excuses in a bid to avoid paying its bills. Three years on from the crisis, Defra is still refusing to pay bills totalling more than £50 million. ... " Read in full

April 26 - May 1 ~ Do you or do you not intend to press for the UK opt out?

James Gray's letter to Alun Michael
"As the Council of Ministers meets in Luxembourg I would now be most grateful for your confirmation of your general approach to the live export of horses for human consumption.
Do you or do you not intend to press for the UK opt out which I believe is now on offer from the European Parliament, and which the European Commission have publicly stated that they would be open to examining? ....... you continually say you intend to prevent the live export of horses by putting in place stringent welfare conditions which would have that effect for economic if for no other reason. However, with the exception of individual partitions to be used in transporting horses, restricted journeys for unbroken horses and ponies, and EU export health rules on fitness to travel, you have not even begun to spell out what these very stringent welfare conditions could be. .....
This matter is now a matter of grave concern to the public .....”
Read press release and the warmwell page on horse exports.

April 26 - May 1 ~ the Government cannot continue to ignore the evidence of the damage that pesticides are causing

See pesticide page
Georgina Downs sends this press release today. Extract:
" Ms. Downs points out that the most comprehensive review ever done in Canada on the chronic effects of pesticide exposure at home, in the garden and at work has just been released by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.
The college conducted a 14–month review of over 250 in-depth studies around the world on the effects of pesticides and found consistent evidence linking pesticide exposure to brain, kidney, prostrate and pancreatic cancer as well as leukaemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, neurological damage, Parkinson’s disease and other serious illnesses and diseases."
Ms. Downs points out that it is impossible for people living or working in agricultural areas to avoid exposure to pesticides, unless the Government take immediate action to ban crop-spraying near homes, schools, workplaces and any other places of human habitation. In written PQ number PQ2696 03/04 Alun Michael stated that "The UK's pesticide approval system provides robust safeguards to protect the public against health risks - a view that is endorsed by independent scientists on the Advisory Committee on Pesticides. Before any pesticide can be used it must first be proved that it is safe to humans, wildlife and the environment. ....." However, in the US it is actually a federal offence to claim that pesticides are safe The late Professor Dennis Parke, Former Chairman WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues stated "Not a single tested pesticide has ever been proven safe." Read in full

April 19 - 25 ~ OIE International (Vaccination) Conference, Argentina, April 13-16, 2004 Conclusions and Recommendations

http://www.oie.int/eng/press/en_040422.htm Among the list of conclusions we read:
....8. For ethical, ecological and economical reasons, it is no longer acceptable to control and eradicate disease outbreaks mainly by applying mass slaughter of animals.
9. Vaccines help to improve animal health, public health, animal welfare, and agricultural sustainability; to protect the environment, maintain biodiversity, and protect consumers of animal products. ...
and among the recommendations
Whenever feasible, OIE should formulate vaccination policies as alternatives to mass slaughtering of animals. .... The OIE develop and incorporate into its standards, recommendations and guidelines all relevant new information on diagnostic tests and the effective prevention, control and subsequent eradication of infectious animal diseases by vaccination. ..... the development of more flexible marketing authorization regulation..... .The OIE and the International Association for Biologicals (IABs) disseminate all information concerning this International Conference to OIE Member Countries, international and regional organisations and other stakeholders.
Read in full

April 19 - 25 ~ It's much better than the original scheme, but so long as SFP is calculated on a regional basis rather than the basis of historic payments there are bound to be some losers" (Anthony Gibson)

The Journal and the Western Morning News on Mrs Beckett's rethink about subsidies. Read articles.
In her statement Mrs Beckett said: "We shall need to see that hill farming communities receive appropriate support from other sources, including the England Rural Development Programme."

April 19 - 25 ~ "..no reasons not to support the application by Syngenta for sweetcorn from genetically modified maize line Bt11 " says Elliot Morley

GM Crops
The Minister for the Environment (Mr. Elliot Morley): The Government are accepting the advice that there are no reasons not to support the application by Syngenta for approval under the European novel foods regulations for sweetcorn from genetically modified maize line Bt11.
Joan Ruddock : Is my hon. Friend aware that the Belgian Government, the French Government and the Austrian Government have all raised serious concerns about the scientific testing of this sweetcorn, which is designed for human consumption, and its safety? As that is the case, how can he support the marketing of this product when it has been tested under outdated and inadequate novel foods regulation, given that a much more rigorous testing regime has just become law in the EU? ...
More from Hansard for Thursday April 22 including bovine TB

April 19 - 25 ~ Tories back call for Foot and Mouth Inquiry

WMN "Ministers are to face a fresh grilling over the Government's decision to suppress vital evidence from the official foot and mouth inquiry when the Conservatives stage a full Commons debate on the issue next week. Shadow Rural Affairs Secretary Theresa May will renew calls for a full public inquiry into the 2001 disaster when she opens the debate on the Government's handling of animal health issues.
The debate will put a spotlight on the Government's decision to suppress a report in which state vet Jim Dring said he could have prevented the £8 billion disaster...."
(Theresa May said) : "The news that an internal investigation has cleared everyone will come as no reassurance at all to the many farmers who want to get to the truth. It is only a few weeks since another internal investigation cleared another Government minister (Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes) only for her to be forced to resign after fresh evidence came to light a few days later. The Government must now act to dispel the impression that there has been a cover-up by opening itself up to a truly independent inquiry into foot and mouth. ...... The debate promises to be uncomfortable for ministers who have frequently changed their story on the handling of Mr Dring's report. ..... . Opposition MPs are likely to raise a series of questions about whether the Government has fully learned the lessons of the events of 2001. Despite widespread concerns about illegal meat imports only six sniffer dogs have been introduced to guard Britain's ports and airports." Read in full

April 19 - 25 ~ Owen Paterson will address an Open Meeting in Cumbria on the future of farming

A meeting on the future of farming in this country, with the focus on Cumbria will take place on Friday May 14th 2004.
The speaker is Owen Paterson, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and M.P. for North Shropshire.
There will be an address from Mr Paterson followed by a question and answer session. Mr Paterson is keen to stress this is not a party political occasion; he really does want to learn about the experiences and views of farmers in the locality.
The meeting will start at 7.00p.m. and finish approx. 9.15p.m.
Location: The auction mart pub, the Hired Lad, near Penrith.
It is in the mart car park, sited at Skirsgill, ,just off the roundabout for Ullswater and Keswick
(junction 40 of the M6)
Friday May 14th
This is an open meeting;all are welcome to attend ,and as many questions as are practicable will be put to Mr Paterson. All very welcome. It is hoped that Dr Richard North may be in attendance.

April 19 - 25 ~ £1m awarded for university disease studies

Fordyce Maxwell in the Scotsman
"University of Edinburgh researchers have been awarded a total grant of £1million for two animal health projects - foot-and-mouth disease in cattle and Marek’s disease in poultry.
Professor Ivan Morrison, an immunologist with the veterinary studies department, will study how manipulation of the immune response to the FMD virus influences airborne transmission from infected animals to neighbouring, unvaccinated cattle.
It is hoped that the research will also help to identify the best way to vaccinate cattle quickly in any future FMD outbreak. Work will also be done on the differences between cattle that have been vaccinated against FMD and those that have recovered from infection. ...."
See also Fordyce Maxwell's article in Wednesday's Scotsman about the dangers of ear tagging young calves. The British Cattle Movement Service has again been asked by farmers to ease deadlines on calf tagging and registration, this time with backing from the Health and Safety Executive. Calves have to be ear-tagged within 20 days of birth and registered with the service by 27 days in order to get their "passports" but an NFU Scotland survey
".. in the Highlands and Islands last autumn indicated that more than 20 per cent of farmers and crofters, of 2,500 taking part, had been injured, some more than once, by protective cows while trying to tag young calves, or while complying with separate requirements to clean-clip cattle going for slaughter. .."

April 19 - 25 ~ EFRA Committee to investigate the issue of bovine tuberculosis

According to FWi its terms of reference will be "to consider solutions to the problem of bovine TB, including particular progress made towards developing a vaccine...The committee also intends to consider a number of other matters, including the experience of Ireland, and the role played by trace elements."
See Conclusions and Recommendations of the 1999 Report and the follow up report in January 2001 which remarked,
"we believe that a more positive approach from the ISG towards constructive criticism of their analysis would be helpful, whether this consists of undertaking analysis to convince this Committee or of involving in their work other academics who have serious concerns about the scientific basis of the trial."
and
"We are also disappointed that progress has not been more rapid towards the development of a more accurate test and hope that work will be pressed forward in this area......It is the responsibility of Ministers, not of the ISG, to make the ultimate decisions and we believe that this process must be put in train now and not delayed until the crisis of no clear results from such an expensive and controversial programme is upon us.."
The third EFRA report of the past five years, 2003 EFRA report into bovine TB seems not to be available from the parliament link - but the government response is there with its many references to "stakeholders" and "consultations".

April 19 - 25 ~ "... the ISG is aware of the background scientific information available, but it has not been asked to consider any worked-up research proposals relating to this area."

The EFRA Committee - in its third investigation in five years into bovine TB - will consider among other things the role played by trace elements. One of its recommendations last time was : "We would therefore encourage the ISG to indicate why specified topics which have been drawn to its attention are not recommended for further study (paragraph 44)."
The government's response was: "...In the specific instance raised by the Committee - the effect of trace elements such as selenium on the disease status of cattle and badgers - the ISG is aware of the background scientific information available, but it has not been asked to consider any worked-up research proposals relating to this area..."
A paper by Hellen Fullerton PhD was offered to the then Agriculture Select Committee in 1999 "...Resistance mechanisms have been largely ignored since the introduction of antibiotics. It is proposed that resistance to M. Bovis could be enhanced by raising the trace element intake of cattle and also of badgers. ..."

April 19 - 25 ~ "...Perhaps I may say nice things about Defra for a change."

The Countess of Mar in Monday's House of Lords debate on Public Sector Local Food Procurement " My Lords, I declare an interest as a specialist cheese maker. Perhaps I may say nice things about Defra for a change. We have found Defra extremely helpful in the organisation of farmers' markets. We have received inquiries from various organisations such as schools and local hospitals in the West Midlands and particularly in Hereford and Worcester.
Can the Minister do something about food production in hospitals? Last year, while in St Thomas's Hospital for a week, I had to chew my way through the most obnoxious meat that was called lamb. God knows where they got it from. We produce wonderful English lamb - British lamb - so please ask hospitals to procure decent lamb which patients can chew and so get better quicker... "

April 19 - 25 ~ ".. spot checks on compliance in other member states. ..... would carry far more public confidence than the rather wimpish Commission."

Andrew George has tabled a series of Parliamentary questions about the timetable set for the new member states to meet the EU's existing regulations on food. There are concerns that former Soviet-bloc countries will not be able to meet existing health and animal welfare standards. According to the Western Morning News Mr George said,
"There is still a question mark at the back of many people's minds as to whether some existing EU states are meeting all regulations. It would be far better to have a series of bilateral agreements to allow inspection teams from one member state to carry out spot checks on compliance in other member states.
I think that would carry far more public confidence than the rather wimpish Commission." Mr George said he was also concerned that lax rules on GM labelling in countries such as Poland could make parts of Eastern Europe a "dirty back door" for imports of GM produce. The National Farmers' Union has warned that an influx of cheap imports from countries that do not meet British standards would undermine British farmers. The European Commission acknowledged that a "handful of implementation issues" to be resolved before the new member states complied fully with EU standards. But the Food Standards Agency has dismissed fears of any risk to human health."

April 19 - 25 ~ DEFRA says "it is for the Commission to enforce the standards across the community"

The Western Morning News has three articles today: "Concerns have been raised over public health and the impact the imports could have on the farming industry if they do not meet EU hygiene regulations by the May 1 accession date. ...."
" Liberal Democrat Food and Rural Affairs spokesman Andrew George "....There is already a problem with illegal meat imports - what we suspect was part of the reason for foot and mouth outbreak issue.... .... A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said: "We work with, and have worked with, other governments in accession countries in order to help them meet the technical standards, but it is for the Commission to enforce the standards across the community. We have checks in place against meat imports from a potential animal disease perspective."
DEFRA's checks include the now famous sniffer dogs and warning posters. As for the brucellosis outbreak in Cornwall, no further news has come from DEFRA about the source of the infection.

April 19 - 25 ~ New database to track animal movements

The Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) will create a single central database to track the movement of animals and certain types of products both within the EU and from outside the EU.
The UK has until 31 December this year to get the scheme working. Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Finland joined the system from the starting date of 1 April.
David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, said
"...The new database will reduce red tape for both economic operators and competent authorities. For example, a consignment of animals moving from Spain to Italy via France can be managed with TRACES using just one electronic form rather than the separate systems and paperwork that would previously have been involved."
TRACES is expected to:
• Improve the amount and quality of information to trace animal movements
• Improve the exchange of information between national and EU authorities
• Provide a system of electronic veterinary certificates enabling trade operators to enter the relevant information online
• Manage lists of establishments in non-EU countries that are authorised to export products of animal origin to the EU
• Manage rejected consignments at EU borders
• Make it possible to target controls on public and animal health and on animal welfare, including verifying that animal transport rules are fulfilled
• Centralise risk assessments of potential disease outbreaks
• Overcome language discrepancies, making information from other countries more accessible
• Integrate all users involved by creating a workflow for the exchange of documents between economic operators and competent authorities
Details on PublicTechnology Net

April 19 - 25 ~ "International cooperation in epidemiological studies and indeed in the control of FMD is of paramount importance"

The comment from the Pro-MED moderator follows news of bovine FMD in Israel reported on the ProMED mail.org website. In Israel, vaccination and other preventive measures seem to have led to a situation where with the expert help of the World Reference Laboratory for FMD (WRLFMD) at Pirbright in identifying the strain, outbreaks of FMD are quickly and efficiently contained. In the most recent cases, "symptoms were mild and no mortality was recorded" and "all isolates were serologically closely related to the Geshur FMDV serotype, which is included in the vaccine applied in Israel and thus provides a good level of protection."
See also The current Israeli policy to prevent and control FMD Such clear setting out of humane and effective policy seems very different from the 163 pages of DEFRA's latest FMD Contingency Plan.
In spite of the regrettable reputation the UK now has for its handling of the 2001 crisis, at least Pirbright's role and expertise is highly valued across the rest of the world. The ProMED moderator says that it is of "paramount importance" that in their shared interest in disease control people work together disinterestedly across national bounderies and share knowledge openly and without reservation. In such grim times as we are experiencing now, this seems very sane advice.

April 12 - 18 ~ an "Achilles heel" for the FMD virus

We hear more in an email from Professor Joe Cummins about the use of interferon alpha (IFNa), in the feed of livestock to combat FMD. (see below)
"We know that there is an "Achilles heel" for the FMD virus, i.e. - the virus is extremely sensitive to interferon. USDA scientists have published that FMD virus must gain control of the host cells by
1. suppressing interferon production, and
2. blocking the effect of an interferon-inducible gene which codes for double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase R. If the FMD virus can not shut down interferon production by the cells, then the virus can not replicate.
Our method of dealing with an outbreak of FMD is to use interferon orally, or some other immune modulator, to boost the host immunity against FMD. The FMD virus causes less than 1% mortality, but the government's response causes 100% mortality. In the post 9/11 world, we are forced to develop an alternative to depopulation. We simply can not kill livestock faster than terrorists can infect them with FMD virus."
(We are very grateful to Prof Cummins for this explanation in layman's terms of his proposed solution.)

April 12 - 18 ~ "This proposal offers an alternative to the depopulation of millions of animals in the face of a multi-centered foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak."

The pdf file of the proposal to to use orally administered Interferon to prevent and/or treat Foot-and-Mouth Disease can be accessed from the technical pages of warmwell. It is the work of Professor J Cummins in association with Amarillo Biosciences Inc. (new window)
Abstract "This proposal offers an alternative to the depopulation of millions of animals in the face of a multi-centered foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak.The impact of a bioterrorist attack upon our animal protein food supply and our response by depopulation livestock will result in billions of dollars in lost revenue and put thousands of Americans our of work. The use of interferon alpha (IFNa), in the feed of livestock, with or without FMD vaccination, will minimize these national losses"
A pdf file of Christopher Stockdale's dissertation on the FMD crisis in the UK can now be accessed from this site. Its advantage over the HTML file is that it contains the original footnotes. Please note that it opens in a new window and can take up to three minutes to load.

April 12 - 18 ~ Gamma Interferon, Bovine TB - other views

An email says
"..... It (gamma interferon test) was trialled for several years in N. Ireland, in fact reported on in 1994, and 2000 (Neill & Pollock) and I believe abandoned...... The Irish were amazed Defra were considering it, and wrote in Dec 2000 (Vet. Record) that after their several years of trials, "an optimist may say the results, hopeful, a pessimist equivocal". Read email
As for new technology, the lengthier answer to questions about the RBS (Rapid Biosensor) see below, "....it is my belief that in a reasonably short period of time our technology, in some future guise, will be competent to detect the Bovine strain ..." may be read here.

April 12 - 18 ~ Is there any chance that the RBS (Rapid Biosensor) breathalyser could be or will be adapted for use in detecting the presence of Mycobacterium bovis?

We await a full answer to the question we asked the company - but the initial response was:
"From a biochemical point of view, the answer in principle, is yes, because the biochemistry is targeted at part of the TB bacterium that it common to both human and bovine TB." See the more detailed answer, received on Wednesday
(The Cambridge based Rapid Biosensor Systems Ltd has developed a "breathalyser" device which is used to collect a cough sample from the patient. The cough sample tube is inserted into a portable optical reader which measures the presence of the TB bacteria in the cough sample. The screening technology is rapid, low cost and can be used by non-medical staff.)
Meanwhile, the stock response in the UK to many animal diseases continues to be to slaughter both those infected and any who might - even if the possibility is remote - be infected. Legislation (The Animal Health Act of 2002) has been changed in order to prevent protest. Testing, in many cases, is minimal and there seems very little genuine interest at DEFRA for vaccine or rapid diagnosis technology. Dr Ruth Watkins: "..The control of disease by killing farm animals is promoted unashamedly and, as in the FMD epidemic of 2001, no apology ma