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Saturday Morning News

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Problems Expected to Worsen

Aired March 24, 2001 - 8:08 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Overseas, British scientists warn the worst is yet to come in the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Britain may soon expand its plan to slaughter thousands more animals by killing every animal within two miles of an infection site. The disease hasn't been seen in the U.S. in more 70 years. Researchers here now focusing on renewed efforts on the problem, as CNN's Brian Palmer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a short ferry ride from the northeastern tip of New York's Long Island, scientists are conducting research on foot-and-mouth disease, which generally does not affect humans, but can be devastating to livestock. It's the disease now prompting authorities to slaughter thousands of animals in Europe. It has not been seen in the U.S. since 1929, except here, at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the only place in the nation permitted to experiment with the virus.

(on camera): In a laboratory behind me, scientists are working with live foot-and-mouth virus to develop a safer and more effective vaccine to protect the nation's 180 million farm animals.

(voice-over): Current vaccines are made from the virus itself, so there is always a risk.

PROF. DON SCHLAFER, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: The vaccines don't prevent an infection absolutely. So the same animals that may be vaccinated may still carry the virus.

PALMER: That's why use of the vaccine is prohibited in the United States. Worldwide, the standard response to an outbreak is to quarantine then kill any animal that might have been infected.

DR. PETER MASON, ANIMAL DISEASE CENTER: We have a vaccine candidate that we're working on here. What we've been telling people is that we think that the candidate may be available for distribution and use in something on the range of a five year time period.

PALMER: U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists are creating a vaccine made from another virus genetically modified to include foot- and-mouth DNA. The goal? A vaccine which cannot transmit the disease. DR. CHANG YI WANG, UNITED BIOMEDICAL: This 200 grams of peptides we synthesized and purified, we'll be able to make five million doses of vaccine.

PALMER: Seventy miles to the west, a private biotech firm is working with chemical compounds that prevent the virus from causing infection, but allow animals to develop antibodies.

YI WANG: It's so far generated 100 percent immune responses in animals we have injected.

PALMER: United Biomedical's vaccines already being used overseas and tested on Plum Island. But vaccines won't provide a complete solution to foot-and-mouth any time soon. So for now, keeping the virus out of the country is the most reliable weapon against foot-and- mouth.

Brian Palmer, CNN, Plum Island, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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