Robert Shaw schreef:
> From: "Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten"
>
> The vaccine doesn't give complete immunity, vaccinated animals can
> still carry the disease, and the vaccine has to be renewed every year.
Animals that carry the disease and are vaccinated on top of this, usually get
the disease within one week after vaccination. They live through it or die. So
one way or the other the problem is resolved. A general vaccination policy still
saves a lot of animals lives if you ask me.
Recently there has also been a vaccine (developed in the Netherlands) that
apparently makes it possible to make a distinction between vaccinated and
cariers. They had to put it away because no one was interested to get it to
market. The non vaccination policy of the EU rules.
> Foot and mouth infects all cloven-hooved animal, greatly reduces
> milk production, and can kill young animals.
Yes, it can but once the disease is under controll, eg all animals are
vaccinated the ones that carry will get ill much quicker then they do now. If
they survive they are immune as well, if they don't, well they don't. Still
preferable to slaughtering thousends because f.i. one pig has symptoms that
resembles foot and mouth but finally isn't diagnosed to be ill. Oops, sorry,
mistake other disease? Yeah tell that to the farmers that have their stables
cleared because of this.
> The current slaughter policy isn't satisfactory, but neither is
> the current vaccine. I don't think there are any good solutions.
Problem with the current policy is that it doesn't prevent the disease from
spreading. It keeps on spreading. At a lower pace but it's still spreading. The
rate this is going we'll end up having to use vaccination anyway. Why not right
away.
Sonja
