Fears mount in UK over upsurge in FMD outbreaks
Fears mount in UK over upsurge in FMD outbreaks
Concern was mounting in the UK last week that the decline seen in the incidence of foot and mouth disease during the summer could be about thrown into reverse.
The identification of seventeen new cases in the northern counties of Northumberland and County Durham fuelled fears that there could be surge in outbreaks during the autumn, when animals have be moved from the high pastures.
By Friday, soldiers were being drafted in to prevent the disease spreading and to help with the culling of livestock and some burial pits reopened. As of Monday morning (September 3)
46,374 animals have been or are waiting to be slaughtered since the disease began its resurgence the week before. The figure includes livestock on infected farms and those classed as contagious contacts on neighbouring farms.The outbreak could not have come at a worse time for Scottish farmers as last week also marked the crucial three month threshold, after which the industry became free to reapply for meat export licences. If the outbreak spreads north of the border, farmers will have to wait at least another three months before licences can be considered.
Following the latest cluster of outbreaks, which is centred on farms in the Allendale Valley in Northumbria, the government abandoned its plans to restart livestock markets in the autumn, saying the risks of spreading the disease further were too high. It also immediately dispatched slaughtermen to those farms affected by the disease and set up special disinfectant points on major roads in and out of the region.
On Tuesday, Lord Whitty, head of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), announced a series of wider measures which he said would provide an effective counter to the situation. DEFRA is the expanded name for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food - the government body responsible for the handling of the foot and mouth epidemic in the UK since it began earlier in the year.
The minister said a balancing act would be needed to enable livestock to be brought off upland regions where grass will stop growing in weeks, without promoting the spread of the disease - though he admitted any movement of this kind was bound to increase the risk of contamination.
Some animals, said Lord Whitty, will be allowed to move to and from existing collecting centres but all those from infected areas or areas at risk will have to have been blood tested. All movements will have to take place under local authority licences and movement between some counties and over certain distances will be banned. Lord Whitty had been due to visit vets and staff at the emergency disease control centre on the outskirts of Newcastle on Friday, but was warned against visiting the affected area due to the strength of feeling within the local community.
The new cases also had the effect of highlighting the issue of vaccination.
Commentators are comparing the slaughter policy of the UK government with the vaccination policy used in Holland. In the UK, some 3,770,000 animals have been killed - the vast majority of which were healthy. In Holland, only infected livestock was killed and animals on surrounding farms were vaccinated. The outbreak was very quickly contained and, by the end of June, Holland was confirmed as virus-free and is exporting meat again.
Speaking on Friday, the opposition minister for agricultural affairs, Tim Yeo, welcomed the soldiers' presence in Northumberland. "The decision to bring in the army suggests that this outbreak is more serious than the government would admit," the Conservative MP for Suffolk South said. "We welcome this action but hope it will be just part of a more effective strategy to halt the further spread of the disease. Meanwhile the confusion over vaccination urgently needs clearing up."
