Fw: [alqld] write: rabbit calicivirus baits proposal

[Guest guest]

> from the rabbit information service

> http://members.iinet.net.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm

> --------

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> ------

>

> Currently there is a proposal before the NRA for a change of usage of RCD

> injectible live virus. This RCD virus " product " can only be administered

to

> live wild rabbits trapped by authorities and injected with RCD virus and

> then let loose to infect other rabbits. The authorities now want to mix

> deadly live RCD virus with baits to spread across areas where they deem

> rabbits to be a problem. Other animals may also eat these grain or oat

> based baits (the new " bait " usage will not be a species specific method of

> delivery of deadly RCD virus as is the " injectible " RCD)

>

> [ed note: the RCD has already been found to cross the GENUS barrier to

> infect european hares, and to have mutated into a painful ear rot disease

> (which takes weeks or even months to kill its victim) in New Zealand where

> it was released in bait form. antibodies to RCD have been found in large

> numbers in domestic cats in NZ also.]

>

> Help convince the NRA to call for a Public Review of change of usage of

RCD

> injectible live virus to RCD baits.

>

> Ask the NRA for a public review.

>

> A new use should be in the public domain.

>

> Focus on the antibody response among non-target organisms.

>

> Pose a series of key questions to the NRA which should be definitively

> answered before any approval is given.

>

> Email

> Alan Norden

> Permits for trial or off-label use of chemicals,NRA

> anorden

>

> Nikki Darby

> Chemical Review Program,NRA

> ndarby

>

> Juanita de Silva, NRA,

> jdesilva

>

> Graham Savage, NRA,

> gsavage

>

> Or Fax

> Ms Alison Turner,

> Chief Executive Officer,

> National Registration Authority,

> Canberra,

> Australia

> FAX +61 2 6272.3195

>

> Here is a sample to follow

>

> Dear Nikki,

>

> I would like a public review of the proposed change of usage of the RCD

> injectible live virus that is now being considered by the NRA.(i.e. RCD

> baits)

>

> Apparently, a new use should be reviewed in the public domain.

>

> I am most concerned about the antibody response among non-target organisms

> as evidenced in the 1996 September BRS report on RCD and also as evidenced

> in recent findings in New Zealand presented for discussion at a one day

> conference there on the 3rd of September 1998.

> I wish to know answers to the following questions before RCD baits are

> approved by the NRA:

>

> 1.Can the NRA ensure non-target organisms will not eat the RCD coated

baits?

>

> 2.Can the NRA guarantee that RCD will never infect any other species than

> rabbits?

>

> 3.Can the NRA guarantee that the antibody responses seen in cats and other

> animals in New Zealand are not a response to infection by exposure to RCD

> baits?

>

> 4.Can the NRA guarantee that RCD baits left out in UV sunlight will not

> cause attenuated virus that may either immunise rabbits against RCD or

> cause a new form of illness in rabbits and possibly other animals that eat

> the RCD baits?

>

> 5.In New Zealand apparently the RCD coated baits are supposed to be

> retrieved after 48 hours of being applied (i.e. the left over uneaten bait

> is to be removed by those spreading the baits).

> (i)Why is the left over RCD bait to be removed?

> (ii)Will the NRA ask for left over RCD bait in Australia to be removed by

> the user?

> (iii)How does the NRA expect end users of the product to remove uneaten

> oat/grain baits from the ground (an impossible task if you have ever tried

> picking up spilt grains from the ground)?

>

> 6.Who will be allowed access to the RCD baits (i.e. will the RCD baits be

> purchasable by any member of the public)?

>

> 7.Can the NRA guarantee that RCD baits will not fall into the hands of

> those who may add it to the food purchased by pet rabbit owners (for some

> perverse reason)?

>

> 8.How can the NRA guarantee stability in the open of RCD coated baits?

>

> 9.(i)Has independent testing on the RCD baits been undertaken to ensure

> that the virus does not mutate or attenuate on the RCD baits?

> (ii)Who conducted the independent tests mentioned in 9(i)?

>

> 10.What tests were used to ensure that the RCD virus would not attenuate

or

> mutate or weaken on the RCD baits (especially those left out over a long

> period of time in the open air)?

>

> 11.Is the NRA aware of the a recent publication that utilised information

> obtained under the FOI Act and that this paper pointed out there was more

> illness in humans in Australia exposed to RCD than non-exposed (Emerging

> Infectious Diseases Volume 4 Number 1 January - March 1998 Perspectives -

> Calicivirus Emergence from Ocean Reservoirs: Zoonotic and Interspecies

> Movements)?

> (i)How does the NRA propose to regulate the amount of RCD baits that

humans

> touch if the baits are to be strewn out in the open?

> (ii)How will the NRA stop children walking barefoot over RCD coated baits

> or accidentally eating them?

> (iii)How does the NRA propose to monitor the health of people and animals

> that come into contact with RCD baits?

>

> 12.Is the NRA aware that according to reports from New Zealand there are

> wild rabbits apparently infected by RHD who are taking weeks to die whilst

> their ears are rotting away? As New Zealand has been using RCD coated

> baits, is the NRA concerned that the " ear-rot " rabbits may be evidence of

> an attenuated or mutated RHD virus?

>

> I hope you can answer these questions. Please also send me the protocols

> for a public review of the new use of RCD injectible which I believe

should

> be in the public domain

> if they are ever considered by the NRA.

>

> Regards,

>

>

>

> --------------------------------

> animal liberation queensland * http://www.powerup.com.au/~alibqld

>

> ethical consumption * http://www.powerup.com.au/~kkaos

>

> ecovegan * http://www.powerup.com.au/~kkaos/main.html

> --------------------------------

>

> " If one does not hope, one will not find

> the unhoped-for, since there is no trail

> leading to it and no path " - Heraclitus

>

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