|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Farmtalking Apology and Vaccination in Brazil NB. In the following article reference is made to the Longtown meeting report on which some content of the article was based. I now know this was falsely reported and so the report contains a serious error, for both of which, I apologise. Please see published below the message received and my reply The
following report contains an error for which I apologise - please see
the message below from the Cumbria Inquiry Team and my reply. My reply - Dear
Mr Durnin, The Report in Question below - I have been horrified to learn from the Longtown Report that Prof. Thomas, Chairman of the Cumbria County Council Inquiry has said, "...that present technology does not permit for a pan-type vaccine" and he added that "there wasn't a good vaccine for the type 0 strain" I have to ask, where on earth did he get that information from? Along with all the other 'accurate' information that has been published during the past fifteen months and sent to the Government, MAFF/DEFRA, the NFU and the world and his wife, I am utterly amazed that such sweeping erroneous statements continue to be made by persons in so called 'authority'. In making the above statement, Prof. Thomas has neatly dropped himself in the same basket as the NFU, Ben Gill and the other chairmen and members of Inquiry teams, who have said the same. Is such a statement really made in complete ignorance after all this time? I realise that Prof. Thomas and his team, may have yet to read the all the submissions they've received, which will undoubtedly enlighten them as to the 'truth' regarding vaccination, but until they do, such authoratitive statements should not be made. Alicia Eykyn, has been in correspondence with a cattle rancher in Brazil and for further 'enlightenment' I publish his message to her and her comments below. 'I asked Paul Sutmoller about Ben Gill NFU saying that in Brazil calves died from vaccination - his response was just simply "That is a ridiculous statement". In all this modern bureaucracy and 'open government' there should be someone in authority that anyone can go to demand the reference source of any such statements made by these organisations. The NFU in particular have been responsible for much of the misinformation scattered about in this FMD crisis. Like it or not they have the ear of the Government and their membership rely on their ‘expertise’. When Ben Gill was given the privilege of being chosen to give evidence, this time at the EU inquiry at Strasbourg (a very limited number of witnesses are called in person ) he made two howlingly inaccurate statements for which I consider he should be asked to lodge his reference sources. He said that the NFU represented 75% of the farming community and that 'in this outbreak 90% of infected lambs died of FMD. The above are some notes in my archives which I consider make the following rather poignant:
Successful Vaccination Campaigns. British born Brazilian cattle rancher Rodney Hobbs writes - 'Foot and Mouth is a sorry sight and one I am fortunate not to have seen for twenty years. Many years ago I saw bad cases in the Argentine. Today in Brazil, like Argentine, we vaccinate very methodically against it and this is how it is done: Twice a year in May and again in November, all stock, whatever their age are vaccinated with 5mls of oil based vaccine, subcutaneous, half way down the side of the neck. The cost of the vaccine in today’s terms with today's rate of exchange stands at about 0.35 of a US dollar. The vaccine is made to
protect against the three strains we have to control, which The system is rigorous and controlled by the government with the usual amount of paperwork involved but not a hassle when you look at the other side of the coin. The vaccine we are using is made by Coopers, although there are many other reputable makes to be found. All vaccine is government controlled. I will explain a little as regards our own operation. We have 12,000 head of cattle. One cattle foreman and 19 cattle hands. The foreman plus another three hands all vaccinate, very simple, no problem whatsoever. All vaccine has to be kept cool, so kept in our farm fridge, transported to the yardsin an esky when needed. We can vaccinate, if we set our minds to it, anything up to 1,700 animals in a day. All the paperwork is done in the farm office, also all very simple. Government controls
revolve around the purchase of the vaccine. As it is in the interest The 'blending in' as you put it is done automatically as we vaccinate everything during May and November, and all our calving is carried out during the months of September, October and November. Otherwise one would have to vaccinate at four months of age and then catch the official campaign' So what's all the fuss about? I can already hear the whingeing starting - 'It's all very well, they are set up for it, we are not.' 'We cant manage this, We cant manage that.' Peter Allen NFU, on giving evidence to the EU inquiry in Kendal two weeks ago said that 'In an outbreak, standstill is not practical' and so on and so forth. Takes a bit of organising? Yes, but to quote the words of the Brazilian rancher 'not a hassle when you look at the other side of the coin'.
Where there is a will there is a way"
With respect, I suggest everyone reads, learns
and remembers the above! |
|
|
|
|
