is slaughter absolutely necessary?

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Against lumpy skin disease in cattle, the systematic culling of herds has angered part of the agricultural world. And some politicians have arguments to support them. “Today, we know very well that this dermatosis does not require slaughter, that the cow must be treated, as all countries in the world do”says Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, president of Debout la France. So, is France the only country to have chosen the systematic culling of herds against contagious lumpy skin disease?

On lumpy skin disease, France is subject to European rules. Since 2021 and the animal health law, DNC has been classified in category “A” by Europe among the most serious and contagious diseases to be eradicated as quickly as possible. The European Union then imposes three rules: the total slaughter of the herd from the first case, the vaccination of nearby animals and the ban on moving the animals. These are essential conditions so that France can continue to export without restriction. “The DNC file is all the more important as France is a major cattle breeding country. Leading producer of beef in Europe, and we are the second largest milk producer country. We are part of a European health policy in which France is an important player”underlines Vincent Chatellier, economist at INRAE.

For their part, Italy and Spain, also affected this year by dermatosis, had to submit to the same European rules and applied very strict measures, including culling. “The health measures we took worked”said Oscar Ordeig, Minister of Agriculture of Catalonia. But Internet users bring up another example, South Africa: “In many other countries, we do not practice systematic culling, look at the interesting case of South Africa where dermatosis is endemic”.

It’s true, in South Africa, the slaughter of a contaminated herd is not systematic, because lumpy skin disease is endemic there. A situation incomparable with France, according to specialists. “The battle has been lost for a long time, because it is a disease that has been present there for much longer than here. From the moment we know that we will no longer be able to achieve eradication of the disease, we deploy another strategy. This is not the choice that was made neither in France nor at the European level. The objective is to eradicate the disease as quickly as possible so that we can consider that the European territory is still free from this disease.” indicates David Quint, president of the national union of liberal veterinarians. So there are other strategies. But to maintain its unscathed status and be able to trade with other countries, France will have to follow the same path as its European neighbors.