Farmers 'can't wait for bovine TB vaccine'
CATTLE farmers in the Westcountry just don't have the time to wait for a vaccine for bovine tuberculosis, according to shadow farms minister Jim Paice.
The ongoing spread of the disease, which caused the destruction of 40,000 cattle last year, would have to be tackled by dealing with diseased badgers, he insisted.
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Mr Paice was speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference and told the WMN that an oral vaccine for badgers would not be available until 2014 – and that was far too long to wait, given the havoc wrought by the disease in beef and dairy farms in hot spots such as the South West.
"We have waited far too long for a conclusion to this dreadful problem and wasted far too much taxpayers' money and got nowhere," he said.
He said the newly appointed TB eradication group had its hands tied by the Government, because its members had been told their remit did not involve the cull of sick badgers.
Mr Paice said: "The fact is that unless you address the disease in its wildlife reservoir, you will get nowhere at all. Every country where a successful programme of eradication has been carried out has included dealing with wildlife that is carrying TB."
The Welsh Assembly has ordered an experimental cull of diseased badgers, but this has been challenged by The Badger Trust and the programme has been suspended until the outcome of a judicial review. Mr Paice said Conservative policy on bovine TB did not rest on the outcome of the judicial review.
"We are certainly watching what is happening in Wales, but it's not stopping us from producing our own proposals," he stressed.
Mr Paice was responding to comments from Hilary Benn, the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, who said the stand-off between farmers who wanted a badger cull and the pro-badger lobby had been completely pointless. It had done no-one any favours, he said.
Mr Benn said recent figures on the number of cattle destroyed having failed TB tests were interesting, as he thought they showed a drop, though they still remained far too high.
The National Farmers' Union has placed tackling bovine TB at the top of its list of priorities for 2010 – and the Government "countryside tsar" Stuart Burgess, Commission for Rural Communities chairman, has said the refusal to allow a badger cull "will have to be revisited."
Having heard Mr Benn yesterday, Peter Kendall, the National Farmers' Union President, told the WMN: "This whole sad situation is the elephant in the room – the problem that Benn talks all around, but steadfastly refuses to change his mind about.
"We are looking to the Westcountry to ensure that our building block is in place so we can start implementing the policies when a cull is allowed. The Tories will allow one – Hilary Benn won't."
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by Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity), Somersetshire
Saturday, January 09 2010, 7:34PM
“:| You obviously don't read things Justin, and I didn't notice immediately either, but the Sixth(6th.) Post from the bottom was from Dr. Ueli Zellweger on Exmoor. . Me, I'm just here trying to explain a few things, and you can't offend me anyway, but if you think professionals like him are ever going to demean themselves and bandy words with you all, it just shows how far from reality you are.”
by Freethinker, Cornwall
Saturday, January 09 2010, 7:15PM
“It's a shame you didn't do some of those taglines for the marketing of those 1950's B movies Charles. "They've been around for thousands of years, and now they are on the march". Quality tagline Charles. I think you should be more concerned about genetic modification techniques being applied to farming which is a greater threat to human/animal health than Mb, bTB and your obsession about killing badgers. Keep taking those tablets Charles. Best Freethinker”
by Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity), Somersetshire
Saturday, January 09 2010, 6:06PM
“:| I we were discussing the economy or Europe you may have a point Chris. . But we are not. . We are talking about TB and Mycobacterium bovis. . You are obviously too young to have any understanding of how insidious and destructive TB is, and how many were affected. . Think of 'Doc Holiday'. . Whether you like me or my politics won't change anything. . These bacterium just go marching on. . It's not a game Chris. . It is the reality. . They've been around for thousands of years, and now they are on the march again.
Quote:- "Forty years ago, the world thought it had conquered TB and any number of other diseases through the new wonder drugs: Antibiotics. U.S. Surgeon General William H. Stewart announced it was "time to close the book on infectious diseases and declare the war against pestilence won."
Today, all the leading killer infectious diseases on the planet ; TB, malaria and HIV among them ; are mutating at an alarming rate, hitchhiking their way in and out of countries. The reason: Overuse and misuse of the very drugs that were supposed to save us."
Repeat! . Quote:- "are mutating at an alarming rate".”
by Chris, Cornwall
Saturday, January 09 2010, 5:37PM
“Sorry Charles but if anyone here plays the political bigotry card, its you.”
by Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity), Somersetshire
Saturday, January 09 2010, 5:12PM
“:| Chris your are another who just can't accept anything. . I started posting with an informative piece from Dr. Ueli Zellweger who is a veterinary practitioner of some 30 years experience. . Then you all start with your political bigotry. . What none of you seem to understand is that with these particular very slow growing and almost impossible to kill bacterium, when the statistics start stating things, even when they haven't been 'selective'. . It is then already too late. . As has been shown with bTB in cattle. . . We had clean herds, then they protected the badger. . It will probably take decades to put things right now, and every year the problem is just being compounded.”