Britain is to delay a decision on whether to vaccinate some livestock against foot-and-mouth while it debates if the radical step is necessary, a Downing Street spokesman said today.
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He said it was now unlikely the Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair would make up his mind whether to use vaccines before Monday.
The government wanted to win the approval of sceptical farmers before opting for vaccination, which would involve injecting 180,000 cattle in the worst affected areas, the spokesman said.
"If we go down this road we have to take the farmers with us. We have to win them over and we have to have their confidence that this is the right thing to do," the spokesman said.
But he also acknowledged that the government was holding off on the vaccination in the light of evidence today that the mass slaughter currently underway could be bringing the epidemic under control.
"That is indeed an argument that is being mounted," the Downing Street spokesman said.
Vaccination is seen as a last-ditch measure, and it has not been used on a large scale in the European Union for at least a decade.
The vaccine leaves disease antibodies in the blood of treated livestock, making it impossible to export their meat to disease-free countries like the United States.
Agriculture ministry data show that 764,000 animals - mainly sheep, pigs and cattle - have been earmarked for slaughter.
Of those, only about 482,000 have been killed, leaving 282,000 still to be slaughtered, and there is a huge backlog in disposal, with more than 135,000 carcasses remaining to be dealt with.
PA/AFP