NOAH Statement on FMD Vaccination

Phil Sketchley, chief executive of the National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) comments that vaccination can be an effective option to control Foot & Mouth Disease, if the circumstances are appropriate. However, with the 2001 UK outbreak, culling would still have been inevitable. In the Netherlands, where vaccination was successfully used to contain the disease, the Dutch were required by EU law to cull all vaccinated animals.

19 June 2002

Notes for Editors

1. For further information contact Phil Sketchley or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131, or visit the NOAH website.

2. The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. The association has 35 corporate members and 12 associate members. In 2001 NOAH's members accounted for around 95% of the £359 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports.