Vaccination fundamental weapon in a future outbreak
By Robert Uhlig
(Filed: 12/07/2002)
 

The images of hundreds of thousands of dead animals smouldering on pyres should never be seen again if the Government adopts the Royal Society's primary recommendation.

Vaccination was suggested several times as a possible strategy during last year's foot and mouth crisis, but the Prime Minister fought shy of the decision, partly because of pressure from farmers' leaders but also because of a campaign of misinformation that bordered on malicious.

The Royal Society inquiry has considered all the current scientific understanding of vaccination and found that there is no fundamental reason why it should not be used as the primary weapon against any future outbreak.

The report says that animals vaccinated with highly purified vaccines, free from the Non-Structural Proteins of the foot and mouth virus, could be used to vaccinate animals efficiently and yet still allow vets to distinguish between animals carrying antibodies because they have been vaccinated and those carrying antibodies because they have been infected.

The Royal Society has found that three tests made by Intervet, Merial and United Bio-Medical can distinguish between vaccinated animals and infected animals. The Intervet test, Chekit-FMD-3ABC, can be used on any strain of foot and mouth virus and can produce an immediate result.

The test has been validated in principle by the Office International Epizooties, the international animal health bureau in Paris, and needs approval by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey. The United Bio-Medical test has been going through a licensing process with the US Department of Agriculture and is expected to be licensed for use soon.

Another test, PCR viral assay, can detect a virus during the latter part of the incubation period.