Livestock jab 'to end culls'

VACCINATING livestock against foot and mouth disease and returning them to the food chain could be a "viable alternative" to mass culls in the case of a future outbreak of the disease, a conference has heard.

The meeting, hosted yesterday by the Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh, discussed the "significant" role vaccinating animals could play in a future epidemic.

More than 100 invited delegates discussed future disease control models. They heard a policy which sees animals vaccinated to control the disease and then enter the food chain "may provide a viable alternative to the mass cull of animals seen during previous epidemics".