BVA Congress 2001 - Presidential Speech
04 October 2001
1. Baroness Mallalieu, ladies and gentlemen some fifteen minutes of this address on the FMD catastrophe cannot possibly do justice to what has happened over the last nine months still less contribute to the future. The disease and its consequences has brought the rural community, agriculture, farmers and vets to their knees, both economically and physically. Representatives and
STRATEGY
2. The starting point is a strategy for FMD control, then a plan and then action. Back in the summer of 1996 when the profession was embroiled in the aftermath of the statement by Stephen Dorrell on BSE the BVA spelt out a strategy time and again. It was fourfold in its scope:
- eradication
- traceability
- enforcement
- verification
DISEASE
3. That strategy applies to the control of all animal diseases. It applies to foot and mouth. But there are differences in the manifestation of disease. In the case of foot and mouth, first the ferocity of the infection, second the scale and third the disposal of animals. It was for us all too quick, too widespread and too much.
PLANS
4. There are longstanding veterinary plans for controlling and eradicating foot and mouth. A plan existed for tackling an outbreak when things go right but what was missing was a plan for when things go wrong. All plans have design assumptions - a worst case scenario i.e. the number of primary outbreaks in a specified time. But reality far exceeded the contingency plan. Veterinarians from many parts of the world who have helped and seen for themselves in the field have gone back to their countries and back to the drawing board to reassess their own plans. Internationally, our experience is viewed as unparalleled throughout the world.
SOURCE
5. In the first few days of the outbreak - Monday 19 to Thursday 22 February 2001 we spent too much time finding out where the disease came from rather than where it was going to. In an incredibly short space of time there was an explosion of infection via the largest sheep market in Europe which not only infected animals in the market but within hours we had thousands of sheep on wheels transported the length of England. The scatter bomb was primed days before the damage was evident.
GOVERNMENT
6. BVA has supported the Government throughout the crisis. Many can criticize but our policy has been to get on with the job. It's as simple as this - it is the Government's job to eradicate the disease not BVA's; it's Government's job to carry out tracings not BVA's and it's Government's job to enforce all the necessary conditions not BVA's. BVA and its divisions', including the Association of State Veterinary Officers, role is to represent vets who are agents or contractors or employees of Government. It is Government which has the authority and responsibility to act as executives.
CONSULTATIONS
7. That said the BVA and the profession has been a key part of the Government's strategy, plans and actions. There is nothing wrong with the employee (the vet) telling the employer (the Government) what he thinks should be done. And indeed the employer in the form of the Chief Veterinary Officer has steadfastly consulted the representatives of the profession week in week out through stakeholders meetings.
INCIDENCE
8. The will to see a major problem through to a conclusion is often boosted by looking back to see how far we have come. We have come a very long way from a peak of over 50 outbreaks a day down to one. Like the TV weather maps showing the computerized movement of high and low pressure we have watched first the expansion and then the contraction of the perimeters of infected areas. We study the distribution curve for foot and mouth. Why is the escalation of the line so rapid and so steep and why does it take so long to tail to zero. Remember the strategy - eradication first. The area below the line should be as small as possible. It is lack of traceability and lack of enforcement that has contributed to these circumstances.
9. Looking ahead I have no doubt that one or more of the established Inquiries will call for increased resources - soothing noises will emanate from Government and the Treasury will probably respond with cuts!
MOVEMENT
10. But we must look to the future in a constructive fashion. Lessons have been learnt and these will translate into what has to be done in the future. Eradication of the disease is well on course. But the weaknesses inherent in farming could still relight the fire. An isolated outbreak, miles from any other source, does not drop out of the sky. Disease moves, animals move, people move and vehicles move. All can carry the virus. As the disease is eradicated the movement of animals will increase. Many thousands of animals are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We are facing autumn movements now, with winter movements and spring movements to come.
VACCINATION
11. The debate about vaccination must now start properly. Loose talk about vaccination is matched by ignorance of its effectiveness. Suitability for its usage both when and where and the influence of carriers are only a few major issues for consideration.
OPTIONS
12. Foot and mouth disease is one of the most infectious diseases known to man. Vets and farmers that have seen the whole skin of the tongue come off like a glove from the hand know how debilitating the disease is. But if sheep can physically recover from foot and mouth welfare concerns question why cull them? Segregate sheep from cattle to protect cattle from infection and save sheep from a cull. It sounds easy. The pig sector has segregated itself on the whole remarkably well. But there the dangers are known, appreciated and acted upon. A sea change would be needed to abandon centuries of mixed farming. The debate on vaccination has to be based on science and risk management and I say again it has yet to start properly.
TRACEABILITY
13. Traceability relies on identification to be effective. Even with an individual identity there is scope for mistakes, and fraud can drive a coach and horses through disease controls. The very fact that we don't know where sheep are is wholly unacceptable. The whole complex business of controlling movement of animals to control disease is diminished if traceability founders. The sheep industry has to take a careful look at the value of identification against the cost of production.
ENFORCEMENT
14. Enforcement covers the whole field of disease control. Issues have risen during the course of the outbreak that have to be resolved for the future. Biosecurity on and off farms has been very poor. Despite all attempts to control and limit movement animals, people and vehicles continued to spread the disease. A major education programme is required.
COMPLEXITY
15. The complexities of modern society have caused delays and exacerbated the spread of disease. The impact of the Environment Agency and the HSE on the disposal of carcasses has been substantial. Under the new Government department DEFRA there must be a major improvement in how to act quickly to interpret law and reconcile policy and take decisive action. It's all under one roof now after all.
MANPOWER
16. Whilst the disease was spreading so rapidly MAFF was recruiting veterinary manpower slowly. The call up was voluntary. The response was low key until the realisation of a national catastrophe. A completely new approach to the deployment of private sector veterinarians is without question called for.
OVERHAUL
17. The BVA has been grappling with the problem of state work for a long time. Ministers, the State Veterinary Service and the BVA all agree. An overhaul is overdue. A fresh start is essential because relations have deteriorated through attempted prosecutions of some LVIs, the handling of procedures for the export of sheep and the attempted imposition of tendering and its subsequent withdrawal.
DEPENDENCE
18. We must look forward and recognise that events can change working practices dramatically. Less than one year ago some practices derived only 3% of their turnover from Ministry work. Now some of them derive 93%. The Government needs vets and vets need Government to ensure 'joined up' publicly funded animal health work.
STRUCTURE
19. The foot and mouth outbreak has brought home to us all the need for rapid mobilisation, organisation and decisive action. The key is a better structure linking the private practitioner and the relevant State Veterinary Service division.
SURVEILLANCE
20. Enforcement or lack of it applies to veterinary surveillance on the farm and to veterinary inspection at the abattoir. A debate on the future of veterinary surveillance in the UK was being conducted last year in a post-BSE climate rather than pre-FMD. But it is a bottomless pit when it comes to what could be done at whatever cost.
21. Risk assessment has to be applied to a range of diseases and like the actuary a view taken on the level of surveillance or insurance required. Arriving at the right decision is not easy especially when existing plans for disease control can be exposed as somewhat irrelevant. What is clear however is that both active and passive surveillance are vital and therefore the practitioner has to visit farms one way or another to act as the "spotter". The practitioner visiting a farm is not only a spotter but can contribute to national surveillance and modelling. The incidence of scrapie in sheep is there to be tackled now.
MODELLING
22. Modelling has thrust itself between heady science and ground operations. This is not new. But a model is only as good as what you tell it. It is to be harnessed to help develop policy, not to dictate it and it must be multi-functional.
23. We have witnessed conflict between models and between modellers seeking publicity and sounding authoritative, whilst up to 2000 vets on the ground were responding to traditional disease control measures.
INTEGRATION
24. It is a fact that the national prominence of external modelling arrived after vets in the field had passed the worst. There is of course a future for both modelling and for scientific research into FMD. In short there is a future for the integration of the whole and we will get better at handling crises. We will be looking to the work of two of the three Inquiries here to help in the shorter term.
VERIFICATION
25. Verification like enforcement applies across the whole spectrum of disease control. It is not simply a question of a signature on a piece of paper. At the scientific end we must look for improved diagnostic testing and validation of techniques. At farm level and at the abattoir more vets have looked in more sheep's mouths than at any other time. Diagnosis of foot and mouth in sheep in difficult circumstances has not been easy. There must be a major ploughback of experience here to secure greater confidence for the future.
IMPORTS
26. Verification not only covers the farm to the abattoir, it also relates to imports and the veterinary role in the authentication of standards of production and the quality of animals and animal products. The recent horrific events in America point to a much wider dimension concerning the need for adequate controls on imported food both on the hoof and on the hook. Terrorism could strike at people via food supplies as well as buildings. A major review of the conditions of import controls is called for and at the very least much more consideration given to the economic benefits of home production. The third Inquiry must address this fundamental issue.
VETERINARIANS
27. Lessons learnt is a catchphrase that seems to encourage a blame culture rather than provide future aims. Of course we want improved planning, more resources, better controls and no doubt the Inquiries and Government will have much to say over the next few months. But there is one theme that places the veterinary profession at the centre of decision making for the future - and that is the one involved at ground level. Knowledge of and experience gained in a locality is crucial.
CONCLUSION
28. The transfer of the knowledge up through a chain of command is vital and the use to which it is put is the test of veterinary integration. We have vets in the field, vets at regional level, at national level and at international level. We must strive to make better use of them in the overall strategy of eradication, traceability, enforcement and verification. We have called for an integrated national veterinary service before. We do so again now. Fragmentation has let us all down. As the disease hopefully is eradicated it is time for DEFRA and BVA, with its divisions, to sit down and enter a new era in public/private veterinary co-operation. We really cannot afford these (on screen) images again.
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