EU to take leading role over foot and mouth
A cross-party committee of members, which examined how several European Union states handled foot and mouth disease outbreaks in 2001, said the EU should play “an essential role” in deciding whether a member state should vaccinate.
The report should form the basis of updated legislation due to be proposed by the European Commission later this month.
“Overall, the report is slightly tougher than originally worded, but not by a huge amount. It does reflect a fairly balanced consensus,” a parliament official said.
“It calls for a ban on imports from non-EU countries where foot and mouth disease is endemic ... and also identifies illegal meat imports as being the greatest risk factor”.
The recommendations will now be discussed by the Commission and by EU farm ministers, including Joe Walsh, who has already urged the EU to proceed very cautiously.
Mr Walsh called for this approach in September after EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne talked about a policy change. Mr Walsh told reporters at the time that until there is an improvement in technology and in types of vaccine, the EU should proceed cautiously with precautionary vaccination.
He said there were up to ten different strains of such diseases, particularly foot and mouth. Any present vaccine would only hit or destroy one of the strains.
“As well as that there is a time scale of effectiveness for these vaccines. It used to be up to about six months, when you would have to re-vaccinate.
“On top of all that, if you are doing a control programme, with the type of analysis that is available, you can’t distinguish between the natural disease and the vaccinated agent.”
Mr Walsh said he understood Commissioner Byrne when he talked about a control programme where there is an outbreak that can’t be handled readily.
There would be vaccination in a controlled area with subsequent depopulation, he said. “It is not a disease control matter, but a functional control one to allow time to get around and have a slaughter-out policy.”
The EU cross party committee has meanwhile criticised Britain for its delay in imposing a movement ban on foot-and-mouth-disease-susceptible animals during its own crisis last year, when it slaughtered millions of animals and turned much of the countryside into a no-go zone.
