FOOT-AND-MOUTH “Remote” Chance Of Human Transfer

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31580, 18 January 1968, Page 1

FOOT-AND-MOUTH “Remote” Chance Of Human Transfer

The chances of foot-and-mouth disease being carried by humans into New Zealand were very remote, the director of the Animal Breeding Research Organisation in Britain (Dr H. P. Donald) said in Christchurch yesterday.

Every year thousands of British tourists visited Portugal, where foot-and-mouth disease was common, but this did not add to the incidence of outbreaks at Home. How the infection spread was still a mystery. Though stock movements out of the infected areas had been banned during the epidemic, other traffic had travelled in and out at will without promoting the spread of the disease. Dr Donald considered the only solution to be the production of a vaccine to control all forms of the disease during the lifetime of a beast. At present vaccines were

available, but their Immunising effects were short lived and did not control every form of the virus. The significance of the epidemic bad become a little too great because of the publicity it bad received. Dr Donald said. Even when the outbreak was waning it had continued to occupy great attention in tha public mind through news sources. The epidemic had nonetheless been disastrous in ths counties affected. Dr Donald said the destruction of the infected livestock was a cheaper method of dealing with the problem than employing veterinarians to immunise all stock.