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The case for TB testing review: PR perspective
With the news rightly focusing on the crisis in Afghanistan focus has shifted away from a domestic issue which will be the focus for farmers and animal activists. That is Geronimo and the TB testing regime.
Whilst so much of the world's attention has been on the crisis in Afghanistan, and rightly so. However, the national case of Geronimo, the alpaca, has continued.
The Story so Far
With the high court denying Helen's appeal for further testing, the case will likely result in the animal's death. When writing this, Geronimo is in the custody of the police and DEFRA awaiting his fate. Following this, a post mortem investigation will then be conducted. Helen is likely to do her independent tests. While many campaigners hope this can still be avoided if the situation cannot change, the results must be clear. DEFRAs vet will take biopsy's of the tissue and various cultures to assess the Geronimos health. This test needs to be done independently as well. Now Geronimo does not have any clinical signs of TB, which are weight loss and respiratory problems. Now visually, TB is challenging to diagnose, which is why a robust testing program is necessary.
The Impact on Testing
With a test for bovine TB essential for keeping cases down and alpaca ownership continuing to rise as more people take to various models of adding these animals onto a farm, testing is crucial. Now with the testing protocols being brought into question at present because of the case of Geronimo, the issue that is likely to happen is one where the voluntary test is proving highly inaccurate when an alternative is available. It will increase owner scrutiny. With the trial being voluntary once owners investigate the testing protocols in greater detail, owners will likely increase scrutiny, which is positive. However, as the trial is mainly voluntary at this point, the reduced confidence in the study would reduce not only the scope but further question its validity, increasing its overall cost and likely incentives offered to ensure necessary subjects are available.
Rounded Testing Regimes
The other element that needs to be considered is, does the current protocol use all of the available science to identify TB accurately. If we add this third test, there is no feasible alternative other than post mortem for further testing. Although we may still see some errors with the three tests, the additional test would increase validity and owner confidence. The likelihood of an animal failing a test due to a false positive across consecutive sampling is extremely unlikely, especially when the test has different approaches and methodologies will reduce the likelihood of farmers and owners going through lengthy appeal processes.
A further focus
This additional phage test then opens doors further for testing once a valid treatment is available and brings into question the testing of cattle. An additional piece will focus on testing regimes in cattle and current issues or concerns to follow this article up. So what can we do whilst we desperately wait and want this case to end in a positive outcome? We also need to ensure that the focus and scrutiny does not move off of Bovine TB testing. A further change in testing is needed so that those with animals and livestock are not in the situation where the organisations do not fully utilise all the tools there to protect them.
Covid-19 Vaccination
Yesterday the UK beat its target of providing the first dose of the Covid vaccine to the first four vulnerable groups. Now, this article will look at what the UK has done to achieve this feat, how the companies were able to achieve this innovation and what this could mean for the future.
The Vaccine roll out:
Now the UK has had the most successful vaccine roll out in Europe we also rank the highest in the top three countries globally. With only Israel and the UAE ranking above us globally. Now both of these countries have taken advantage of their extensive logistical networks. These networks have enabled smooth delivery of vaccines sourcing and funding of these crucial items of medicine and streamlined delivery. Now the UK’s efforts have had several notable key players or factors which has contributed to its success. The part which our NHS has played in battling the virus as well as the vast amount of volunteers who have signed up to support the vaccine rollout allowing us to administer the vaccines. Now as with many articles which have given credit to the works that the government had done with the procurement of vaccines. The country took a risk by not joining the EU scheme and took steps to set up its own procurement scheme both funding and signing unto multiple companies programs. This could have been highly problematic we could have spent a lot of taxpayer money on failed schemes which may have yielded nothing. However, by doing this the government was able to ensure access to the vaccines by giving the companies a commitment to their product. Other schemes which did not provide the same guarantee fell into an issue with this.
The Vaccine:
Now the vaccines themselves are an innovation in both their design and speed of development. Now truly this innovative process has the potential to be used in other areas of medicine but the fact that the sector has now created a new system which expands on traditional processes. Whereas vaccines traditionally used dead or weak viruses. Now, this innovation introduces a cultured antigen into a delivery system often yeast or bacteria. This takes advantage of the growth characteristics of these types of molecule. Once cultured they then go through a purifying process making them safe. With any scientific achievement, there are always steps to continue to innovate with the mRNA that is the processing time between different virus proteins. AI drug development could be one particular area which could possibly see us be able to innovate this process identifying discrepancies faster than what conventional science can.
Travel and Passports:
With the good news, this will undoubtedly bring too many some will now start thinking about travel. Now one thing that has been discussed regularly is the feasibility or indeed likelihood of a vaccine passport as many people are thinking about how or even if countries have protocols in place for vaccination against diseases. Yellow Fever is one particular disease which is regularly vaccinated against as is hepatitis. Now whilst holidays will likely return there is a possibility that this will only be possible with covid passports of some description. We are already seeing that a mandatory isolation period is being brought into protecting citizens from 33 high-risk countries with variants of the covid virus. However, at this point whilst we are likely to see some form of testing for covid and a return of travel corridors until it is known if vaccines will prevent the spread of the virus. The reason testing may be the likely first step is to allow travel for those under 50 who have not been able to be vaccinated to travel and will likely be the result of lobbying by travel companies. For anyone who wants written proof of the vaccine, they can obtain this from GPs for a small fee. Although companies have not outright suggested a further restriction on those travelling it is too early to tell what this could look like but for those with existing bookings, I would ensure you have suitable travel insurance and re-read your holiday providers policies. The articles at the bottom of this article provide a reference for vaccines needed in each country as well as possible restrictions for travel.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/08/future-of-cities-covid-19/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/10/uk-poised-to-shun-eu-coronavirus-vaccine-scheme
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/
https://www.which.co.uk/news/2021/02/will-i-need-a-coronavirus-vaccine-to-fly-or-travel-in-2021/