Back in 1967, when farming still clung to its rural origins, we killed almost half a million animals to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease.  Whether this was the right policy is debatable, but in the event the disease was restricted to the North West.  In 2001 the world is a very different place.  Local abattoirs are gone and livestock is simply regarded as a commodity, to be transported any distance for the sake of another percentage point of profit or productivity.  Within days of the first outbreak the disease had spread farther than it ever did in 1967.  Before we reached the two-week mark (the incubation period) foot and mouth was confirmed in every region of the United Kingdom.

Repeatedly we are told by reporters and experts alike that ‘kill and burn’ is the only option available, but this is clearly not the case.  Vaccination is also an option.  And now that the disease has spread to mainland Europe we must review that other option.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that ‘kill and burn’ is not effective.  Not only is the disease still spreading, it is now ‘jumping’ and affecting farms with no apparent connection to other cases.  The knee-jerk reaction is to consider destroying the wild life which might (or might not) be transmitting the disease.

The consequences are horrifying:

• With every region affected, the ultimate toll in this country must be several times the 1967 figure of 440,000.  British farming might never recover.
• If the disease spreads through Europe as quickly as it did through the UK the European death toll will be several times the UK figure.  European farming might never recover.
• If wild life is targeted our landscape might never be the same again.

The prospect of killing all the wild life in a region (Dartmoor, to start with) is itself ludicrous.  How would we round up every pony, deer, rabbit, badger, and rodent in the first place?  And that is before we think about the birds.  The killing would never stop, and the killing would never stop the disease.

Already some politicians are suggesting that as soon as this crisis is over we need to review our farming methods.  Why wait until our farms have been wiped out?  Why not review them now?  It is obvious that we need to withdraw from the extremes of intensive farming and move back to the more traditional value of quality.  Which means that the world could be better served by restricting the import and export of live animals and meat. 

So surely it is time to consider the vaccine option.  Let’s vaccinate our flocks and herds, let’s allow animals to recover from the disease, let’s accept that we might not export in the future.  Whether or not the rest of Europe chooses to go down the same route, our European partners might be quite relieved at the prospect of not having to deal with British exports.

There are even some beneficial side-effects.  The national diet will improve if we eliminate cheap meat products and the health service will have to deal with fewer problems.  With less transporting of livestock and meat there will be less pollution released into the atmosphere.  And if we have animals that can withstand foot and mouth then should we be foolish enough to continue importing meat from infected countries we are not risking our farming future.  The killing has to stop.