"They have aligned to oppose the systematic slaughter of cow herds when a single case of dermatose nodulaire contagieuse (DNC) is detected. Killing healthy animals to check the disease is stupid, cruel and unnecessary, they say. Lumpy Skin Disease cannot be transmitted to humans; it kills only a small percentage of cows; other animals recover eventually; in any case, a vaccine is available."
"On the other side of the hay-bail barricade are the government, the European Union, the veterinary profession, the meat trade and the largest French farming union, the Federation nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA). They say that slaughter of whole herds however traumatic is the only proven way of checking the spread of the disease. Systematic vaccination of all 17 million French cows would take several months;"
A pastoral tragedy is unfolding in France as Lumpy Skin Disease, an animal affliction that spread from Africa to Europe in the last decade, prompts rural protests featuring tear-gas, barricades and contaminated government buildings. Two radical farming unions, Coordination Rurale and Confederation Paysanne, have united to oppose systematic slaughter of herds after single DNC cases, arguing culls are cruel and unnecessary because the disease is non-zoonotic, causes limited deaths, and a vaccine exists. The government, EU, veterinarians, meat trade and FNSEA insist mass culling is the only proven control; vaccination of all 17 million cows would take months and could risk export bans under EU rules. The disease was first detected in eastern France in June, has spread southwest, and vaccination of two million cows is underway. The crisis coincides with other grievances.
Read at www.thelocal.fr
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