The British Deer Society View on Foot-

The British Deer Society View on Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Background
Foot and mouth disease is an acute virus disease that affects all cloven hoofed animals. It has been recorded in reindeer, elk, red, roe and fallow deer. A virus attack normally follows grazing on infected pasture.
Research has shown that large wild ungulates are very resistant to the infection (Gibbs et al, 1975). Under experimental conditions, fallow deer exposed to the disease generally only showed sub-clinical symptoms, although it was noted that the virus was transmitted to domestic stock. However, the researchers concluded that under normal conditions in the wild, deer would not be a major factor in the spread of the infection in the event of an epidemic amongst farm animals. Later research on foot and mouth antibodies in fallow deer (Lawman et al, 1978) arrived at a similar conclusion. Roe and muntjac show a more severe clinical response to the disease.

Vectors for the Disease
There is strong circumstantial evidence that birds can play a major role in the spread of foot and mouth disease. Amongst mammals, hedgehogs and rats are known to be naturally susceptible to the disease. Although there have been no recorded occurences in wild deer in this country for over 40 years, deer on the European continent are frequently infected and are known to act as hosts to the disease. It is unclear how long the virus can survive in the tissues of deer.

Control Measures
In Britain the disease is controlled in domestic stock by slaughtering infected animals. There is clear evidence that this policy has historically been very effective.
Vaccination of domestic stock is undertaken on the continent but complicated by the various strains and types of the disease. We believe vaccination is not a viable solution for our native wild deer population. Even if the strain and type of the disease was known, there is no feasible way a vaccine could be administered. There is also the danger that a vaccinated animal could still be a carrier for the disease.
MAFF are responsible for determining the control methods to be employed on wild animals in a confirmed foot and mouth disease area. If deer are deemed to be a threat to the spread of the disease, we believe MAFFwould have little option other than to order a total cull of deer. We consider such a cull would be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to achieve. This Society would also have some difficulty accepting such a plan if it did not at the same time acknowledge the need to eliminate other wild species in the infected area that might also act as a vector for the disease.

The British Deer Society is a registered charity formed in 1963 to promote in the public interest knowledge of methods of management and humane control of deer, whether semi-domesticated or wild.
We have been unable to find any report where the wild deer were considered to have played a role in the spread of the disease in Europe.
We strongly believe that, in any outbreak of foot and mouth disease, wild deer in the vicinity should be disturbed as little as possible, irrespective of species or location and that no attempt should be made to "shoot out" a local population. Deer drives usually spread the deer over a much wider area.
It is likely that the response of deer to foot and mouth disease virus might be different from that of domestic stock. The evidence from Western Europe indicates that deer seem to play a minor role in the epizootiology of the disease and that their resistance to the infection is probably greater than that of farm animals.