Experts disagree on foot-and-mouth policy

The foot-and-mouth epidemic was destroying a way of life in Britain and it was "disgraceful" that the government there was not using vaccination to bring the disease under control, according to a senior British scientist.

Prof Fred Brown, OBE, currently an adviser to the US Department of Agriculture, expressed his concerns about the British government's reluctance to resort to vaccination of cattle while addressing the final day of the British Association for the Advancement of Science's Festival of Science in Glasgow.

The association organised a special symposium on foot-and-mouth which included some of Britain's top researchers.

The group acknowledged that the British foot-and-mouth epidemic is not over yet and were completely unsure how long it would last.

Whether to pursue widespread vaccination became a major point of contention, with Prof Brown advocating its use, not just in Britain but worldwide.

A counter argument was put forward by Prof Mark Wool house, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at Edinburgh University who sits on the scientific group that advises the British government on foot-and-mouth

Britain had been slow to respond to the disease and initial animal culls had been inadequate, he said. The Irish, French and Dutch had been "very draconian" with their culling programmes but they had worked well.

"Vaccination is not a good way of bringing the disease under control both locally and nationally," Prof Woolhouse said.

"I see vaccination very much a last resort." There was no clear view on how wide an area would need to be covered by a vaccination scheme because the disease could spread unpredictably.

Even if vaccination was pursued it took a few days for it to be effective and halt the disease. "We don't have a few days."

Prof Brown said however that the disease was "destroying a way of life" in the British countryside and it was "disgraceful" that the vaccination option was not being used. "If we've got a vaccination why don't we use it?

"While there is virus around the world, every country is at risk," he said.

Britain had a good programme for keeping the disease at bay but it still managed to get in, he added.

"It has been a lesson not only for the United Kingdom but also a lesson for the US."