What is the benefit of stopping vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease? Representatives of the livestock sector from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay

Should we vaccinate against foot-and-mouth disease or not? That was the question that hovered in the background of a conversation that brought together representatives from the cattle sector of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. It was during the fourth edition of the Federal Cattle Congress, held today at the Rosario Stock Exchange, which, far from trying to poke, aimed to contrast experiences and positions on an always thorny issue. The one who broke the ice was Dardo Chiesa, coordinator of the National Meat Table, who quickly set the tone of the conversation. "Vaccination is a preventive method and today you are paid the same whether you vaccinate or not," he said, thus marking that the commercial benefit of not doing so, a priori, is not such. "In all international forums, Argentina maintains that free is free. And that is increasingly taking position in the OMSA: we have no more viral circulation. It is my issue if I vaccinate or if I do not vaccinate and risk something else. ...