Loopholes in disease prevention
Publication: Sunday Sun
Paper Section And Page: 13a
Paper Date: Sun, mar 25, 2001
Byline: Terry Ally
SOME loopholes need to be plugged to fortify Barbados against the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), according to government and industry officials.
They include the mats being used at the ports of entry, importation of reconditioned vehicles, lack of a regional response, and an inadequate public education programme.
Measures include a ban on all animals and animal products from infected areas, incineration of garbage at the ports of entry, and use of mats soaks with Virkon S (correct spelling) the worldıs most powerful disinfectant against the virus which spreads FMD, which retails at £50 for 12 kilogrammes in Britain.
Those mats have become a source of controversy in Britain where the government in recent days admitted they were ineffective because the solution was too weak to kill the virus but was in fact a psychological tool to alert people they were entering a FMD zone.
Their dilution rate was 1:1300 which required 30 minutes contact time to kill the virus.
Mark Blackwell, director of marketing and international sales division of Antec International, which manufactures Virkon S, told the Sunday Sun that rate was approved by the British Ministry of Agriculture to decontaminate buildings where FMD was detected and assumed that the solution would be applied to clean surfaces for half an hour. However, his company recommended a 1:100 dilution rate which could kill the virus with a minute or less contact time. This dilution rate was presently being used in Barbados, said his local agent, William Brathwaite of Farm Equipment and Supplies Limited.
Even at that rate, it is assumed that shoes be without "organic challenge", that is free of dirt, mud or other organic material in which the virus could be transmitted. Blackwell said that ideally, shoes should be brushed first to remove organic material.
"I am very confident, from a technical point of view, that Virkon S, with a few steps, will be effective in killing the virus on a clean surface, provided the shoe is made adequately wet because, of course, after walking on the mat there will be a period in which the shoe will be wet as well. If the shoe is not clean it will inhibit the effect of the disinfectant; in fact, any disinfectant will be less powerful with the presence of an organic challenge."
In foot dips and wheel dips, even with an organic challenge, the dilution rate is effective and these were in place on local farms, said general manager of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul. While the BAS were pleased with the mats at the ports of entry, Paul said it had "discomforts".
The society does not feel that Government is doing enough to educate travellers not to bring animal products into the island in their baggage and felt that Customs should conduct more intensive searches of baggage.
He said while the public knew about FMD, he did not get the impression they fully understood the gravity of the situation.
Importation of reconditioned vehicles also needed to be disinfected, he added, and there needed to be a regional response considering that Barbados' borders were open to neighbouring Caribbean countries from where pests, such as the pink mealybug, giant African snail and human diseases such as dengue fever arrived in Barbados.
"It makes no sense us putting measures in place while our neighbours do not," said Paul. He said this was an issue on which regional authorities were meeting next week.
Paul also felt that reconditioned vehicles, especially farm vehicles, needed to be disinfected on arrival.
Chief veterinary officer Dr Trevor King said this was an area which was not previously included in prevention measures, but was now being addressed. His main concern remained the disposal of international garbage at ports of entry.
"If people who clean aircraft and take things off the aircraft and take them home; that invariably is how the virus could get out into the country," King said. "If we get unstuck, this is where we will get unstuck."
Companies which provide cleaning services must make their employees aware of the potential problems, he added.
His ministry has stationed four people each at the airport and Bridgetown Harbour to keep mats soaked with Virkon S throughout the day. Measures were under way to safeguard the indigenous Black Belly sheep, said president of the Sheep Farmers Association, Senator Keith Laurie.
"We have put in a thick sponge properly soaked with Virkon S. Anyone walking into the feed lot has to walk over it. When we purchase lambs, they walk over it also," said Laurie. "We are also working feverishly to put together a sperm bank where we will collect from the best black belly rams in the island to be put into liquid nitrogen just in case."
He said that the Sanitation Service Authority is also be putting aside old mattresses, foam, and carpeting which farmers could use as wheel dips. Revenue from cows, sheep, pigs, and rabbits, which are susceptible to FMD, is several million dollars each year.
Conservatively, the BAS estimate that dairy cows produce about $12 million in milk and $1.9 million in beef annually; sheep yield about $1 million in mutton, and pigs produce $9.9 million in pork.
These figures do not include "slaughter slabs" at Six Roads and Four Roads or "back yard" slaughter.
Blackwell has assured local farmers that Virkon S is in abundant stock and could be airlifted to Barbados at a momentıs notice.