FMD vaccination is not compulsory and the farmers have to pay towards the cost of the vaccine. The latter is a disincentive to uptake and the former means that farmers may use any reason they wish to refuse vaccination (pregnancy is a common reason). The cost, whilst it may seem low on paper, may seem relatively high to a poorer farmer with low cash flow. This will be a commoner problem in the east of the country where people are in general less well off. Beef farmers will also feel less necessity to vaccinate their animals, again predisposing to a lower vaccine take up in the east of the country where beef animals are commoner.
2006AutumnVaccCoverage.doc NH
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