Foot and Mouth Disease Is Found in Britain

NY Times ^ | August 3, 2007 | REUTERS

[neverdem]

LONDON (Reuters) - Foot and mouth disease has been found in cattle on a British farm, the government said on Friday as it banned livestock movements to prevent a repeat of a 2001 outbreak that blighted farming and rural tourism.

Infected livestock were found on a farm near Guildford, close to London, and all cattle on the farm were being culled, the agriculture department Defra said.

Officials immediately halted movements of pigs and ruminant animals such as cows and sheep across the United Kingdom to stop the spread of the disease and set up a 10-km (six-mile) surveillance zone around the farm.

The disease causes high fevers and blisters in cloven-hoofed animals and can often lead to death. It can be contracted by cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, but very rarely by people.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown took part by telephone in an emergency meeting of officials on Friday evening from southern England, where he began a holiday on Friday.

He will cut short his break in Dorset and return to London on Saturday to chair another meeting of the emergency committee, COBRA, a spokeswoman for his office said.

"Our top priority is to prevent the spread of this disease in order to protect farmers' stock. The plans are tested and well-established," said the spokeswoman.

Recommendations made following the 2001 outbreak were being followed "to the letter," she added.

Millions of animals were killed during the 2001 outbreak, destroying the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. Images of funeral pyres of burning animals were flashed around the world, dealing a huge blow to Britain's tourism industry.

Brown's predecessor Tony Blair came under intense criticism for his government's handling of the last outbreak, particularly for a slow response and for failing to stop the movement of animals quickly.

Officials said animals would...

[dfwgator]

“Foot In Mouth” Disease is very common in Washington DC.

[neverdem]

micro ping

[DancesWithCats]

Good God, this is chilling news. I was in England when they had the last epidemic and it was nightmarish. I hope this goes very differently but they’re already culling an entire herd belonging to the farmer where it was found.

[HereInTheHeartland]

That is a very bad thing if confirmed. They had piles of slaughtered and burned piles of livestock all over the last time (2001 I think)

[vetvetdoug]

This Rhinovirus has been known to become airborne and show up as far away as 50 miles. The virus is stable in the atmosphere for a good amount of time. The 2001 outbreak was brutal and I knew several US veterinarians that went over there to get some experience and they did.

[jackibutterfly]

Isn’t it supposed to be ‘hoof’ and mouth disease??

[blam]

Foot And Mouth Outbreak Sparks Emergency (UK)

By Brendan Carlin and George Jones
Last Updated: 2:30am BST 04/08/2007

Britain faced the prospect of a new foot and mouth epidemic last night after a case of the disease was confirmed for the first time since the disastrous outbreak of 2001.

The Government launched emergency measures after cattle at a farm near Guildford, Surrey, tested positive.

A nationwide ban on the movement of livestock, including cattle and pigs, was imposed immediately.

It is understood that local vets were first alerted on Thursday, with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs experts confirming the case late yesterday.

Gordon Brown, on holiday with his family in Dorset, was informed and by 9.30pm took part by telephone in a meeting of Cobra - the Cabinet Office emergency committee.

The Prime Minister, who began his holiday only yesterday, will return to London to chair a further Cobra meeting today.

Britain was hit by the world's worst foot and mouth epidemic in 2001 which resulted in the deaths of around 10 million animals

The preliminary findings by experts raised the prospect of a repeat of the 2001 epidemic, which cost £8 billion.

Last night Number 10 said plans to contain the outbreak - thought to be on a farm between Guildford and Aldershot - were "tested and well-established".

Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, is also cutting short his holiday in Italy and is expected to return to London today.

A Defra spokesman said: "Following an investigation of suspected vesicular disease by Animal Health on a holding near Guildford in Surrey, laboratory results have this evening indicated that the foot and mouth disease virus is present in samples from cattle on the premises." All the cattle on the farm will be culled.

A two-mile protection zone and a six-mile surveillance zone have been put in place.

A Number 10 spokesman said: "Our top priority is to prevent the spread of this disease in order to protect farmers' stock."

The 2001 epidemic resulted in the deaths of around 10 million animals. Some experts argued that vaccination would have been better than large-scale culling.

Millions of healthy cattle were also culled in 2001

Number 10 insisted contingency plans being put into place were based on lessons learnt from the 2001 epidemic.

Peter Kendall, the president of the National Farmers' Union, said: "This is a matter of grave concern. We are working with the government to ensure the right steps are taken."

Tim Bonner, a spokesman for the Countryside Alliance, said: "Farmers around the country will be hoping and praying that this is an isolated incident and that the disease is not already widespread.

"We hope and pray that the lessons from last time have been learned.

"The handling of the crisis in 2001 was an unmitigated disaster."

Peter Ainsworth, the shadow secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, whose East Surrey constituency is not far from the site of the outbreak, said: "The last thing we need is a repeat of the horrific images that blazed across the world in 2001."

[neverdem]

Thanks for the post!

[Grizzled Bear]

George Galloway had his annual physical? Please do NOT tell me what they found in the other end!

[neverdem]

Being Unhealthy Could Cost You -- Money(COmpany fining employees for being fat)

"Global Warming" Skeptics Advance, Says Inhofe

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[Winniesboy]

Isn’t it supposed to be ‘hoof’ and mouth disease??

This is one of those little curiosities of English usage which separates Britain (together with most other Commonwealth countries) and the USA. Here it's always been foot and mouth.

[Winniesboy]

And to expand a little further on the reasons behind that difference - until comparatively recently the term ‘hoof’ in England was reserved for those ungulates which walk on one toe (horses etc), and these aren’t subject to the disease. Ungulates walking on two toes (cattle, sheep, pigs etc) were always referred to by farmers as having feet, not hooves: and these are the species subject to the disease. Although this distinction has now virtually disappeared, except among some older farmers in some regions, and ‘hoof’ is used prettty well universally for all ungulates, the disease has kept its older name.

[Winniesboy]

There are some oddities about this outbreak. I think I’m right in saying that F & M is a cold weather disease, and previous outbreaks have always started in the winter months. The location is not in one of the main cattle or dairy farming areas. It is, however, only a few miles from the government animal health laboratory at Pirbright, one of the world’s most important centres for F & M research. A lab escape seems very unlikely, but I imagine it will be one of the first possibilities to be examined.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

A lab escape seems very unlikely, but I imagine it will be one of the first possibilities to be examined.

If not... it SHOULD be!!!

PS: Thanks for contributing to this forum from "across the pond"!

[Smokin' Joe]

ping for Foot and Mouth in England again (Thanks, neverdem!)

[Smokin' Joe]

ping for Foot and Mouth in England again (Thanks, neverdem!)

[Smokin' Joe]

Sorry about the double post.

[Boundless]

> It is, however, only a few miles from the government
> animal health laboratory at Pirbright, one of the
> world’s most important centres for F & M research.

Foot-and-Mouth Scare Linked to U.K. Lab
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292126,00.html
“The strain of foot-and-mouth disease found on a farm
in southern England was identical to one used at a
nearby laboratory, Britain’s environment agency
said Saturday.
...
The strain of the disease detected in the outbreak
is not one recently found in animals, the Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or DEFRA,
said in a statement.”

[ex-Texan]

The truth is that this outbreak has been traced to a British laboratory. That's right -- a UK medical research facility. Read all about it here. The Brits are very upset by what is about to take place. It may take five years to recover.

One British Slaughterman's Horror Story

Excerpt:

I was the only slaughterman to be employed by Defra for the whole year and I was the only slaughterman to be based at a burial site. * * *

I culled 53 farms and put 48,000 carcasses into Tow Law burial site. * * *

The people who say foot-and-mouth disease doesn't affect humans have no idea what they are talking about.

It's ruined my life. I don't live anymore, I exist.