Foot and mouth disease

Hello everyone. I have some serious news. My country has an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. I have directed posters in the Farm Life Forum to look here. I'm not a farmer but I can look for local news for you and let you know how things are here. I know that some of you have family living here. And I believe that some of you are farmers. I'll post this and then send you a fuller desciption of how things are. Will get back to you.

Diane

Hello. We have an outbreak of foot and mouth disease here. Already 300 pigs and 60 cattle have been slaughtered. It was discovered at Cheale Meats in Little Warley, south of Brentwood. I think that's in Essex. Five establishments have been placed under strict restrictions banning the transport of animals in and out of the area. This includes a farm in Yorkshire, my neck of the woods. The infected pig found at the abbatoir Cheale Meats came from a market in Selby, North Yorkshire. That's near my area.
The Government has banned all exports of live animals, meat and dairy products.
There are divided reactions. MAFF has reassured the general public saying minsitry officials were not yet warning people against travelling in rural areas. The NFU however has asked people to respect the countryside and not to use footpaths that run through farmland that may contain stock.
All farmers who slaughter infected animals will receive compensation. The extent of the outbreak should be known within a week. If it extends beyond a fortnight the effects could be very severe for the industry.
I am sure you will join me in hoping that this outbreak is contained shortly and that as few farmers as possible have to are affected.
I will keep you posted on further developments. Thank you.

Diane

What terrible news! I'm very sorry.

What is foot and mouth disease?

Hello Tim. Foot and mouth disease is a serious disease affecting livestock. Animals can include cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and goats. It is highly infectious and strict regulations have to be imposed on farms which are infected. Infected animals have to be slaughtered. The virus can be carried on the tyres of cars travelling through infected farms. Our government has set up tight bans to contain the outbreak to this country. Obviously it can have a devastating effect on a farmer's livelihood. I believe a number of DG gardeners are farmers and would take a professional interest in what is happening.
If there are any further developments I will let you know. Thank you.

Diane

Diane, I just wonder how much more your farmers can take. The latest outbreak must be a horrible fate for some. Your homeland has my sympathies. Lisa

Hello. Thank you everyone. We still have a serious situation here. About 600 farms now have restrictions on them and there's likely to be more livestock slaughtered today. The scientists/vets are checking on farms in Essex, Humberside, Yorkshire and Scotland. It looks as though the source of the outbreak could be imported infected meat. It looks as though some sports events might be cancelled - horse racing I think. One has been cancelled already. Our Grand National at the beginning of April might even be cancelled. It's still too early to say how bad this outbreak is going to be but there's calls for some preventative slaughters.
One of my cousins married a farmer. He's out in New Zealand. He used to have hundreds of sheep and cattle. But the financial situation for farmers out in New Zealand isn't very good now so he sold up a few years ago. Think he just has a smallholding now. It can be a tough life. They have five daughters and none of them were interested that I know of in following into farming. I expect it was the right choice but it seems such a shame.
When I was a teenager there was a novelist called Lucy Walker who used to write romantic fiction about young women visiting New Zealand and falling in love with a sheep farmer. Isn't life strange? That's exactly what happened to my cousin Halcyon. She's a nurse and took a year off, went round the world and met Peter, a New Zealand sheep farmer.
I feel really sorry for these farmers - it must be heartbreaking seeing your herd being slaughtered. I hope it is contained soon. The price of meat is already falling.

Diane

I thought it was called HOOF and mouth disease, not FOOT and mouth disease.

You are right woodspirit. Americans call it hoof and mouth, the British - Foot! :-) Same difference!

Hello! a quick update. Foot and mouth disease has now been confirmed in about 6 farms or abattoirs. In 2 locations, the abattoir where it was disovered and the pigfarm where it is believed the outbreak started. There is a 7 day ban on livestock movement. Hunting has been banned. Horse race events have not been stopped but a number of events have been cancelled. Various ramblers events have been stopped and a number of country areas hve been closed by organizations such as the National Trust. The infection seems to have started earlier than was originally suspected. Livestock auctions are at a standstill. More animals were slaughtered today.

The loss to the industry is likely to be millions of pounds.

All we can do now is wait and hope the measures are sufficient to halt the outbreak. Thank you.

Diane

This saddens me greatly!

Hello everyone. Another update.

They're going to be burning carcases today, very sad. It's at the farm where the outbreak is believed to have started. The good news is that there have been no further notifications apart from the six confirmed cases. Let's hope this outbreak has been contained. Ramblers are still being asked to curtail walks on farming land. And sporting fixtures are still being cancelled. The ban on livestock movement stays till the end of the week.

No real further news. Thank you.

A brief update.

There are going to be more carcasses burnt today.

New cases have been confirmed. A farm in Devon has now been confirmed as having foot and mouth. It is several hundred miles from the source of the outbreak but he may have had livestock dealings with the north of England where this all appears to have started. A farm in Anglesey, Wales is also being tested and has been isolated.

There are further top level meetings to discuss the crisis today.

I wish I had happier news. Thank you.

Diane

Last I heard there were 11 cases, and some animals had already been shipped to France before the disease was confirmed.

It isn't just the farmers who're suffering. If all movement of animals is stopped, there won't be any meat in the shops. Butchers will be out of work. People involved in the processing of any meat products will be laid off. Where racing or other events are cancelled, jockeys and others who depend on that for employment will be unpaid.

Thousands of ordinary people may be affected - international sporting events may be cancelled. Fans may be advised not to travel, even when their cars and feet are disinfected at every port and airport. Everyone in Britain and neighbouring countries throughout Europe may be affected.

We heard on the news that the farm where it started had had the disease for a couple of weeks before notifying it. If that's the case, I hope he's prosecuted.

Why shouldn't people travel to rural areas? Can people catch it or just transmit it on their clothes? And what does hunting have to do with foot and mouth disease?

Hello! There's now 12 confirmed cases that I've heard of. Further high-level talks today. Our Continental neighbours are concerned in case it spreads to them. The virus can be carried on the wind.

There is no risk to human life - humans do not catch foot and mouth. But we can spread the infection from the soles of our feet if we travel from an infected area into a non-infected one. We can also spread it on the tyres of our cars. Some people are ignoring the calls to avoid the countryside areas. A number of parks have closed access to visitors. Infected farms have barriers of trenches filled with disinfectant. Several country schools have now closed so that the children and their teachers do not spread the infection.

The disease affects cloven-hooved animals. This includes horses. Several race meetings have now been cancelled.

I suspect there will be knock-on effects to consumers, higher prices in the shops. The supermarkets are making plans to use other suppliers if necessary. Farmers will be compensated by the government. But if the outbreak is not contained quickly there will be major problems for our farming industry.

I think there will be further decisions made later today. Will update you. Thank you.

Further cases. I think it now stands at 18. Racing and other sports events have been cancelled. Various meetings have been cancelled. Local authorities have been given further powers to close countryside walks to ramblers. There are fears on the Continent. Some British sheep which have been imported into Germany from Britain have been found to have antibodies to the disease - which means that they had been in contact with the disease.

Abbatoirs are ar a standstill. There will be further talks on livestock transport aimed at enabling a limited amount of transport under strict regulations. The compensation bill is estimated at £180 million.

Will give you a further update when there is fresh news. Thank you.

It's definitely going from bad to worse, and it seems to me (from the news reports) that the government dragged it's heels a bit - sound familiar?

Further outbreaks confirmed. It's now in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Countless events cancelled. Our General Election may be pushed further back. Layoffs in subsidiary industries such as meat processing. There's an outbreak now in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. That's where my sister lives.

The good news, if there is any, is that these outbreaks are still linked to the original outbreak, that is from animals infected right at the start. There are likely to be further cases from animals which are still incubating the virus.

Our livestock industry has been badly hit. Our Government is now proposing measures to allow limited transport of non-infected animals under tightly-controlled licensed regulations.

Further updates when more news available.

Thank you. Diane

Hello everyone! We have Closed Down Britain here. Or at least that's what it feels like. The Foot and Mouth is up to 40. A lot of countryside walks and parks have now been closed. Many sporting fixtures are now off. Layoffs in subsidiary industries.

Add a train crash down the East side which is still not being used. Add terrible weather conditions. We have snow and frost here. I yanked out an old pair of boots - rarely need them. Thought they felt tottery and wobbly under me. Got to college and yanked em off. Soles and heels had gone. Took em to a cobbler - beyond repair. Just had to chuck em in a bin. Our normal weather I can get away with just a stout pair of shoes... The weather's also affected power supplies in Scotland and the Borders. They've been without electricity and have had to have helicopters fly in supplies. It's a stay at home weekend. There's nowhere in particular to go to and poor travel conditions. A friend has just sent me some seeds so I'm going to be immersed in my kitchen putting them into little pots and dreaming of spring...

I've been following this on TV. What a devastating problem, and spreading! I hope an end comes soon.

Well, I'm in Ireland, and people here are not impressed at the way Britain has remained open for major sporting events and is allowing free movement of huge numbers of people. No football events have been cancelled this weekend - too much money involved for that!

Here in Ireland, where there are as yet NO cases of foot and mouth, hatches are well and truly battened down. There are NO sporting events of any kind taking place, leading to loss of income for thousands of people already. All unnecessary official visits to farms have been cancelled, and all farms and public buildings and airports and ports and border crossings have disinfectant mats for vehicles, disinfectant sprays for vehicles, and buckets of disinfectant for people to walk through. People are advised not to travel to and from Britain. Even the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin (which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world) has been cancelled.

In Britain, there is talk of going back to normal next Wednesday, with movement of animals being allowed. Oh, I forgot, in Ireland (where there is NO foot and mouth), no animals may be moved from their present location without a permit. There are already 40 cases of this disease in Britain, but as farming only accounts for 1% of British income, other commercial interests have a much stronger voice. In Ireland, it's 30%, and this will continue to be put as risk so long as Britain doesn't take strong enough measures to prevent the disease spreading. It is anticipated that things won't get back to normal in Ireland until at least a month after the last case in Britain.

Already, Irish produce has been banned from some previous importing countries. As with BSE, Britain's greedy and inefficient farming practices put everyone else at risk.

As with BSE, the measures being taken by Ireland are stronger than those being taken by anyone else in Europe (including Britain, where both diseases began), so I hope this will mean that when consumers consider the safety of the food they eat, they will choose to buy Irish produce, because Irish farmers care about the health of their animals, and about the safety of the food they produce.

Sorry, there may be farmers who look after their animals properly in Britain, but there obviously aren't enough of them.

Yesterday something was finally reported on the evening news. It was the first time I've seen any reports here. Seems like they are now spraying peoples shoes at the airports that are on return trips from Britian. They showed the mass of animals that had to be put down. They said even Dolly (the famous sheep)was even being quarantined. Lisa

Yes, our politicians are probably having to listen to several different causes. Doesn't help that there's a General Election in the offing. I've been out out and bought my meat as usual this weekend. From local butcher not supermarket. I think it's worth it for better quality meat. The compensation for loss of trade only applies to farmers, not the subsidiary industries such as the abbatoirs, meat packing and haulage. If our politicians considered the whole chain perhaps they'd think differently. I think they should have cancelled the football. After all it's only a group of men in silly shorts chasing a ball round a field. I can understand that our politicians might prefer to minimize disruption. But there's a whole industry at stake here. Foot and mouth is already off the front page. It's no longer newsworthy.

I think the problem is the way all our lives have to fit into neat little packages. Nobody cares about standards anymore. We have a drugs problem in my town, we have a homelessness problem. We don't look after our elderly the way we should. We certainly don't bother about trivial things like litter - I've got plastic bottles thrown into my garden. Foot and mouth is just a symptom.

Yes i agree with Mary-she has got it in a nutshell-our farmers are lax-money orientated-first of all it was salmonella, then it was BSE but for years would our government say that people who were dying horrible death it was due to it, no way we had one of our ministers pushing a hamburger down his daughters throat saying British beef is the best and now this-there are cases in my area(2) and we cannot walk anywhere all footpaths closed the canal closed but as Mary says a lot of sport is carrying on. Well i do not eat meat of any kind-not interested,our animals are not being looked after properly-the farmers are no different to coal miners, steel workers, if they cant do their job get out, but they say they are custodians of our countryside-no we must say enough is enough-that farmer could not be bothered to look after his animals just lucky that a government vet saw the animals foot and realised and all of our cases so far are from this farmer only so far-dont worry the farmer will have to pay as i beleive he was not looking after his animals properly, so when it is over i think the RSPCA will have something to say. So dont worry Mary some of us are with you.

I thought the election was postponed for now!

Hello Louisa! The election has been postponed. But you can bet it is in people's minds. I believe the Tories were planning a meeting this week of some sort to discuss election issues. I believe the idea behind postponing it was so that canvassers going up and down the country wouldn't spread it further. We don't have a fixed election date as I believe you do.

I feel deeply sorry for some of the farmers caught up in this. But not sorry for the farmer who had the first outbreak. It really doesn't sound as though he was a good farmer.

Farming issues are so complicated nowadays. With issues like veggies, organic and GM and so on. I'm against GM. Won't buy the stuff. If it goes wrong the damage to the environment can be immense. I think it is very useful to know what other countries think of us. I know that Ireland is very concerned in case they get Foot and Mouth from us, and rightly so. England is more of an industrial country and not a rural one. The reason? Cos industrialized countries have made more money than rural ones. Or at least they certainly used to. But of course our traditional industries like the steel yards, the pits, the docks, and the car industry are in decline.

People don't eat in dining rooms anymore, maybe in their kitchens. More and more people are just eating on the run as they dash out for work, veg out in front of the tv and so on. They probably don't care too much what's in the food they eat.

If this was a neighbouring country with a Foot and Mouth epidemic, would we be worried in case it wasn't kept under control? Of course we would. So if other countries look at us and are worried it's only natural.

The damage has been done! Seems to me the government is still not doing everything in its power to contain the disease and I can't believe that football matches are still going on. The greedy never have a conscience.

Hello! Further outbreaks have been reported bringing the total into the 50s. They all seem to be linked with the intitial case.

There may be some limited movement of livestock allowed under stringent conditions later this week.

One of the farmers affected during the outbreak has been contemplating suicide. There's some serious questions on agricultural policy that need looking at. I expect we'll end up with the usual compromises. Our Conservatives meet for one of their conferences today.

I feel so terribly sorry for the farmers!

yes me too louisa
i just found this thread thats awful, and its not like their lives where easy in the first place and the good farmers have an even harder life.
in the summer/spring from a community in support of agriculture program. you pay for a share and each week you get a box of food (varies from farm to farm). its fresh and and organic and you know where it came from and the people it came from. i've visited the farm my veggies come from once or twice, its amazing all the work they do. up before daylight. have any of you heard of programs like these in your area?
as i read this thread it gets more depressing and i get frustrating because it feels so immense and getting more political. i almost want to stop and ignore the whole thing, but we really can't. doing little things like buying direct from and supporting local farms makes it a little better.
quynh

Hi quynh! Yes there are a few farms which sell direct. Organic i think. It's not really worth it for me as I live on my own and eat at the Uni occasionally as well.

The news is very depressing. There's nearly 70 cases now. And they think it might be on the Continent as well now. The papers are running articles on vaccines etc and ways of dealing with it. I think we need more agricultural research doing to find ways of defeating this. But a fair amount of issues are political decisions. It sounds quite complex. I really think we need to think of issues like this in a global manner. If we have a few countries where it's still rife we're never going to get rid off it.

I actually run a CSA in SW Ohio-not a money maker for us but it is a wonderful way to get customers much more involved in farming. CSA is not for everyone-if you don't cook they would not work for you or if you are one to plan out menus they don't work well.

In The UK CSA are usually called "Box Schemes"

http://www.localharvest.com has a big list of CSA and Farmer's markets in the US

Friends of the Earth runs similar schemes for distributing in-season locally-produced fresh produce and organises farmers' markets in the UK.

http://www.foe.org.uk

[ Removed per member request. - Admin]

Britain now has over 80 cases, but the commercial interests are winning out over the farmers' wishes to continue to take precautions - what's a few farmers' livelihoods when you have a horse betting industry worth £6billion? Racing is going ahead in the UK now - unless the suspected case of Foot & Mouth at their main training area is confirmed, in which case it'll have to be cancelled.

There are lots of really gruesome pictures about Foot & Mouth at the UK http://www.maff.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/photos.htm site but basically it causes blisters in the feet and mouths of cloven-hoofed animals (cows, pigs, sheep, goats), which burst and take off the skin, so the animals can't walk or eat, so lose weight and don't produce milk, thus depriving the farmer of anything to 'trade'.

There are still no cases of Foot & Mouth in Ireland.

If you look at the home page it should lead you to more information about FMD. Total number of cases now at 81. There were fears for Dartmoor earlier this week as one of Prince Charles' farms was infected. A tenant farmer of his rather. It's close to Dartmoor where we have the ponies and other wildlife.

I also think the financial and political agenda are being addressed rather than the agricultural.

Hi folks!
Where did the original infection come from? And, is there anything that can be sprayed or whatever to kill the virus? And if so, what side effects would be involved?

Hi Samantha! The infection started at a farm in Northumbria. It looks like the feed he used for his pigs hadn't been treated well enough to destroy the FMD virus. I don't think we've had this here for many years but there are still countries where it is rife. Any country that wants to remain free of it has to be vigilant at all times. That probably goes for exports/imports of many animal products. There is not so much about it our news now but we will probably still be fighting this for quite a few more weeks. My newspaper has a long list of events that have been cancelled.

Just found this:
http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/03/03092001/ap_foot_42430.asp