False: Australia has forced farmers to vaccinate their cattle with mRNA jabs, leading to dozens of cattle deaths.

By: Annie Priya
October 21 2022

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Context

On October 3, 2022, Truth11.com, an independent media site, published an article titled "They Are giving Cows mRNA Vaccine Which Will Pass the Vaccine Into Milk, Cheese etc." The article is originally from a blog called "Before It's News." Published on October 2, the blog notes that the government allegedly forced farmers to vaccinate their livestock with an mRNA vaccine in New South Wales, Australia. It claims that the vaccine killed 35 of 200 cattle and altered the DNA of the remaining cows. This DNA modification would be transmitted to products derived from vaccinated animals, such as dairy products and meat, and consequently to the people who consume them.

In Fact

This claim surfaced after the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries announced on September 28, 2022, that it had agreed with the U.S. pre-clinical biotechnology company Tiba Biotech to accelerate the development of mRNA vaccines for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Lumpy Skin disease for cattle.

According to the press release, the government requested vaccines be developed by August 1, 2023; this means that they have not yet been produced nor administered to cattle. The fact sheet on vaccination for beef cattle in southern Australia notes that there are only two types of vaccines: toxoid and killed cellular.

According to Science Direct, the killed cellular vaccine consists of virus particles, bacteria, or other pathogens grown in culture and then killed to destroy disease-producing capacity. Toxoid vaccines are bacterial toxins, usually exotoxins, secreted by pathogens that produce many disease symptoms after infection. There is no approved or available mRNA vaccine for animals in the market in Australia at present.

In August 2022, ABC News reported that dozens of livestock cattle died from starvation in New South Wales, with experts blaming the wet and cold conditions across the state. However, there are no reports of any recent cattle deaths in Australia due to mRNA vaccines, as claimed in the article in question.

In addition, a representative of the New South Wales government on October 11 told Agence France-Presse that the state authorities have not "imposed the use of a vaccine in livestock - our challenge is to develop one." Pall Thordarson, director of the RNA Institute of the University of New South Wales, also said, "our DNA is very similar to that of other mammals (cattle, pigs, etc.) and all animals (including fish and chickens)." Thus, the mRNA technology works in animals similar to humans and does not modify their DNA.

Logically's 2021 report noted that vaccines that use mRNA technology against COVID-19 do not alter DNA. Mark Lynas, a visiting fellow at Cornell University's Alliance for Science group, told Reuters, "no vaccine can genetically modify human DNA." He added, "Genetic modification would involve the deliberate insertion of foreign DNA into the nucleus of a human cell, and vaccines simply don't do that."

Verdict

Australian farmers are not forced to inject livestock with mRNA vaccines, nor are there any official reports of recent cattle deaths due to vaccines in the country. Such claims are unwarranted and propagated without any evidence. Hence we have marked this claim as false.