UK foot and mouth disease recovery slowed by new outbreak cluster
Extra vets have been drafted in by the UK government to contain a new foot and mouth disease ‘hotspot’ in the Yorkshire Dales.
Eighteen new cases of the disease have been reported around the town of Settle in the past three weeks, raising fears that the area could become ‘another Cumbria’ (the county most badly affected by the main outbreak of the disease, earlier this year). Jim Scudamore, the government's chief veterinary officer, called the cluster "a very serious outbreak".
As before, the government is applying a policy of ‘firebreak slaughter’ to check the spread of the disease, involving the cull of all sheep, cattle and pigs within a 3 km radius of each affected farm. Almost 1,000 farms in the Yorkshire beauty spot have been placed under restrictions and livestock movements have been prohibited.
In the UK newspaper ‘The Times’ it was reported that farmers were concerned that some prime bloodlines for the country's sheep-breeding stock could be lost in the cull, as the moor is home to the famous Swaledale breed. The flare-up of the disease is viewed with particular disappointment in the UK, given the progress made in previous weeks.
