Animal Health Policies - towards a more rational approach. Warmwell.com DEFRA's "Expert Group"

63. The expert group will be a strategic/tactical level group of specialists whose role will be to provide advice to senior management on surveillance programmes, analyse information and advise on control strategies. They will report to and be directed by the ADPG. In an outbreak the Expert Group will also have close links with the NEEG, the NDCC and the SAC-ED

48. The UK has its own stocks of 9 different strains of FMD antigen, adding up to over 20 million doses held on its behalf by a commercial supplier. In addition, the EU Vaccine Bank holds a wide range of antigens for emergency use. The number of doses available and strains is kept under review, including taking advice from IAH Pirbright on those strains of FMD which present the greatest risk to the UK. As soon as the FMD strain responsible for the outbreak is identified and it has been confirmed that one of the antigens held in the UK bank will afford protection, the supplier will be instructed to formulate vaccine. Vaccine formulation by the designated external contractor takes 4 days.

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Ref: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/pdf/fmd-expertgrp021106.pdf

Update from IAH

3. The IAH representative advised that the new strain of FMDV that had been discovered in Egypt had not been eradicated and no vaccine with a good predicted match had been available to use in time. The EU had commissioned a study to look at the protection afforded by a readily available A Iraq vaccine strain. This study showed that despite the poor predicted match between this A strain and the new Egypt virus, the A vaccine could provide useful cross-protection provided that a very potent vaccine was used.

4. The new strain of serotype A that had been discovered in various Middle East countries including Turkey and regions close to the Bulgarian and Greek borders seemed to be controlled by use of an A22 Iraq vaccine.

FMD advice/consultation on clinical disease recognition	IAH Pirbright
FMD virologist/diagnosis	IAH Pirbright
FMD pathogenesis/pathology	IAH Pirbright
FMD Vaccination	IAH Pirbright
FMD Epidemiology	Defra’s Consultant Epidemiologist
Meteorologist	Met Office/IAH Pirbright
Serology	VLA
Observer/link to Science Advisory Council	Head of Veterinary Research Division, Defra
Epidemiologists	SVS (HQ) Vets and other staff responsible for field epidemiology
Modelling representatives
Veterinary representatives of the devolved administrations

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