Emergency ring vaccination should be used as a 'tool of first resort' to contain future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, according to a report released by the Royal Society (BBC News). The report is the result of an inquiry commissioned by the UK government to investigate the scientific aspects of transmission, prevention and control of infectious disease in animals.

Last year, almost 6 million animals were slaughtered (New Scientist) as the result of a 'contiguous cull' policy that aimed to halt the development of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, which cost the UK almost £8 billion. Although the Royal Society report acknowledges the importance of culling, movement control and rapid diagnosis, it states that, “in many cases, this will not be sufficient to guarantee that the outbreak does not develop into an epidemic” (BBC News). Last year, farmers were reluctant to support vaccination because of concerns over vaccine efficacy and that it might lead to a lengthy ban on meat exports. Since last year, the international rules governing the export of meat from vaccinated animals have been relaxed. According to Sir Brian Follett, who chaired the investigating committee, “we believe in most situations we should employ vaccination and not mass culling” (Reuters). The report also encourages scientists to develop a vaccine that would induce sterile immunity against different foot-and-mouth disease virus strains.

Meanwhile, Bobby Waugh, the Northumberland farmer at the centre of last year's outbreak, has been found guilty of failing to alert officials that his pigs had the disease (Guardian Unlimited). He has been fined and banned from keeping farm animals for 15 years.