Sheep Dip Controversy
The History
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SHEEP SCAB IS A DISEASE SPREAD by the sheep scab mite which has probably been affecting flocks for many centuries. In the UK it was made a notifiable disease in 1869( though legislation to control it actually goes back to King Hywel the Good in 949.
By compulsory treatment or destruction of infected animals, coupled with health checks on imports, it was eradicated in GB by 1952. Wherever the disease had been found, whole flocks were dipped under police supervision. Eradication continued through the second World War, but films from the time show a marked absence of protective clothing – which in any event has been shown to provide little or no real protection.
In 1972, a lapse in border controls at Birkenhead saw the disease re-imported and four years later,( the then) Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food( MAFF) reintroduced compulsory dipping. This time police were largely replaced by MAFF’ s own inspectors but the main difference was that the products used successfully in the 1930s( which required re-dipping within 14 days to control mite eggs) had been replaced by more advanced, stronger single dip organochlorides and organophosphates.
For environmental reasons organochlorides were subsequently banned in 1984( as later were synthetic pyrethroids) leaving OPs as the only licensed, relevant products.
( Courtesy of the Sheep Dippers’ Support Group).
An appeal from the sheep dip sufferers support group
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FOLLOWING OUR FEATURE IN THE LAST issue of Farmers’ Mart, the Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group has appealed for farmers who were tested for organophosphate-related poisoning at Guys Hospital in 1991, 1992, and 1993 to get in touch.
The appeal came after three sets of results were released to the group. Group co-ordinator, Tom Rigby said:“ We have been pressing for release of these test results for some time but were initially told by Defra that they could not be found.
“ While the testing was paid for by the ministry, MAFF, in conjunction with VMD- the Veterinary Medicines Directorate- their policy was not to send farmers their results, though their GPs were informed, if known.
“ Individual test results are listed in the reports we have, but those tested are only identified by a number, age, sex, occupation and the period in which tests were made.
“ We would like, where possible, to pass on to farmers their individual results. The reports are published on the group’ s website. We realise that some of the farmers involved may have died since the tests were made, in which case it may be a case of contacting their families.
“ The last interim report shows OP poisoning was confirmed in every case where data was complete and for the first time it reports chronic symptoms lasting for 10 years or more.
“ By then, I think MAFF / VMD had learned all they needed to know and the testing was discontinued.
“ Some confirmed cases were invited back for further tests at Guy’ s conducted by a US chemical weapons expert from Fort Detrick, David H Moore. We suspect those additional tests were just for his research rather than having any therapeutic value and I doubt that those will ever be released.”
Some 45 cases of suspected sheep dip and related illness between 1 September and 31 December 1992 are listed in the papers along with a summary of 32 enquiries followed up and a further 20 without analytical data from 1982 to 1991.
Records include chemicals used, exposure details, clinical effects, blood test information and comments, and range from light exposure, possibly over periods of time, to situations in which farmers have actually entered dips to rescue sheep. They also note a small number of cases in which non-farmers helping farmers with sheep dipping have later reported illness.
WERE YOU TESTED? PLEASE GET IN TOUCH
As a result of the continuing and determined efforts made by the Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group, more vital evidence about the effects of organophosphate-based dips on the health of those using them has finally been released.
Three sets of results from farmers and farm workers who were tested for suspected OP poisoning in the early 1990s have been published. These demonstrate the various acute symptoms that have been attributed to exposure to OP dips before concluding whether or not the chemicals could be given as a confirmed, likely, possible or unlikely cause.
Using the 1992 test results as a snapshot, the ill health suffered by 12 patients was judged“ likely” to have been caused by exposure to sheep dip.
Of these patients, there were two brothers aged 33 and 35 at the time, a 54-year-old farmer, who had dipped sheep five days a month for 40 years, and a 51-year-old who reported falling in while dipping. The age range of those tested shows this is not an issue for a previous generation. The youngest patient deemed likely to have been made ill by the dip would be only 50 now.
Farmers who participated in the testing are urged to contact the Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group so that they can be finally given their results. It will also be useful to look at how their health has fared in the two and a half decades since the tests, given increasing calls for a full inquiry into allegations that farmers were misled about the dangers of OP dips.
Email: tomrigby2 @ btopenworld. com or www. sheepdipsufferers. uk
42 Oct / Nov 2016 www. farmers-mart. co. uk