Foot and mouth far from over in Britain

Sep 17 2007

The foot and mouth crisis in Britain is far from over with the discovery of more cases at another farm in Surrey.

Tests have confirmed the virus had infected cattle and pigs which were culled as a precautionary measure.

This most recent outbreak means there is a strong possibility that more herds may now have to be slaughtered in neighbouring farms.

The latest cases come hot on the heels of a partial lifting of the transport ban in Scotland and Wales and leaves authorities facing a dilemma over whether to allow limited movement of livestock in unaffected areas of England.

Debby Reynolds the chief veterinary officer, says a consideration might be the relaxing of the ban to allow animals in outlying parts of the country to be taken directly to abattoirs.

The government has been accused of a premature lifting of the ban which was imposed last month, as experts say the foot and mouth virus is capable of surviving in the open for up to six months.

The current outbreak has affected cattle grazing on rented pasture land in Egham, Surrey, which have been culled along with another 350 cattle which had also been grazing on several fields, covering a wide area.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) ordered the culling of 800 pigs and 40 cattle from the neighbouring Stroude Farm on Thursday; tests the following day revealed they too had the foot and mouth virus.

Veterinary experts say that the animals had not shown any symptoms before they were culled, means it is less likely they will have passed on the disease.

Investigators suspect the virus many have been transferred from the original site at Pirbright to Egham, in mud on the wheels of vehicles that travelled to both sites.

The virus may also have been transferred by sheep or wild deer and samples have been taken from animals in the area.

A herd of some 600 deer roam freely in Windsor Great Park just a few miles from the centre of the outbreak, but it is understood that neither the deer nor the Queen's pedigree livestock breeds at Home Farm near Windsor Castle are under any threat.

Meanwhile the British farming industry is losing millions every day in exports alone, because of the restrictions on livestock movements and because abattoirs and markets are closed.