Blight defence in NZ's hands

By LIAM DANN

Next month the International Vaccine Bank (IVB) in Britain will close, forcing New Zealand to make its own arrangements for the production of foot and mouth vaccines.

While the chances of a foot and mouth outbreak here might be slim, the consequences would be severe and having access to vaccines is an insurance policy that this country cannot afford to be without, says MAF's director of animal biosecurity, Derek Bolton.

The IVB was set up as part of a research facility in Britain in 1985. Since then, vaccine production standards have been raised, he says. "The only time IVB has made up vaccine was for the UK in 2001 and in the end it was never used."

In 2001 British farmers were forced to undertake an animal cull of horrendous proportions. Nearly five million sheep, 764,000 cattle, 428,000 pigs and 7500 goats were killed. The carcasses were burned on huge pyres around the countryside.

At that time there were regulatory issues which slowed down the process of getting vaccines made. The net effect is that the IVB model is outdated and we need to move to a commercial production facility, Bolton says.

That move could cost several million dollars but it is money that we can't afford not to spend.

"Vaccination is not the first choice for dealing with a foot and mouth outbreak, but it is an option that we need to have," he says.

Vaccines are used to control the spread of the disease until a full-scale programme for containment and animal slaughter can be put in place, he says.

Vaccines work, but they aren't seen as a primary solution to a disease outbreak. There are a few reasons for that. A different vaccine is required for each strain of the disease and the duration of immunity is only about a year.

"Most significantly, when you vaccinate, your status as a disease-free country is not as good as it is if you slaughter out and declare yourself disease-free," Bolton says.

Despite that, vaccines are a vital part of any foot and mouth management strategy, he says.

They are useful in pre-emptive treatment of animals like pigs, which can be among the worst spreaders of the disease.

If a large piggery gets infected the pigs produce so much virus that plumes of it are released into the air and spread on the wind, he says.

New Zealand will not risk bringing the disease antigens into the country to set up a bank here. Instead MAF will contract a major international pharmaceutical company - in either Europe or South America - to do the job for them.

Because the vaccines have a limited shelf life the pharmaceutical company needs to maintain stores of antigens so it is ready to go into production at all times.

Any contract New Zealand signs would include guarantees that the production of foot and mouth vaccine would be given top priority by the company if and when it was needed.

At the moment there are three likely contenders and a final recommendation is expected to be made in the next six months, Bolton says.

Until then New Zealand will rely on an agreement with the EU to use its vaccine facilities if a foot and mouth outbreak were to occur.

FOOT AND MOUTH WHAT TO LOOK FOR

* Sudden lameness in sheep or cattle.

* Animals drooling or off their food.

* Anything that looks like a blister.

* If you have any concerns, call the MAF hotline: 0800 809966. Most suspected cases are ruled out over the phone.

The damage

* A foot and mouth outbreak would plunge NZ into an instant recession.

* In the first year $6 billion would be wiped off GDP, rising to $10 billion after two years.

* The dollar would immediately drop, by as much as 20 per cent. 20,000 jobs would be lost.

* Meat export volumes would fall about 80 per cent in the first six months. They would not fully recover for almost two years.

* Inflation would fall by 1.5 percentage points.

*Damage estimates: The Treasury/Reserve Bank