Foot-and-mouth slaughter to be stepped down
April 26, 2001
The government is expected to relax its slaughter policy today following signs that foot-and-mouth disease is on the wane. Agriculture Minister Nick Brown is expected to announce in the Commons a step down on the 'firebreak' cull - the slaughtering healthy animals on farms neighbouring those with confirmed outbreaks.
The new policy follows an announcement by the government's chief scientist that there should be hardly any new cases of foot-and-mouth disease by 7 June - thought to be the likely date for a general election. The total number of cases in the UK now stands at 1476 with 770 in the North. Eight new cases nationwide were confirmed yesterday.
Phoenix, the week-old calf which survived a cull on a Devon farm, last night won a reprieve. The calf had spent five days huddled next to its dead mother, slaughtered as part of a precautionary cull.
The pure white heifer has become a national symbol of hope. Her owner said the reprieve was marvellous news and she hoped eventually to breed from her.
Slaughterman may have
foot-and-mouth
April 24, 2001
A North slaughterman culling foot-and-mouth infected animals in Cumbria is waiting to see if he has contracted the disease.
Health officials investigating the human case say the outcome of the tests will be known in the next couple of days. They say the human form of the disease is very rare and is only ever heard of in people working closely with infected animals. No one else is at risk from the man's infection.
He is unlikely to become seriously ill. His symptoms are described as the disease has never been known to spread from one person to another. like having flu with a few blisters.
Health hazard
The first known case of a human being catching foot-and-mouth was agricultural salesman Robert Brewis who contracted the disease during the 1967 outbreak while working at his brother's farm near Rothbury in Northumberland.
Environment Agency officials have admitted that liquid waste from rotting carcases buried at Great Orton in Cumbria is being pumped out to sea at Workington, causing anger among residents who say it is a health hazard. The waste, called leachate, is collected, treated and diluted before being pumped out to sea to prevent it building up and seeping into watercourses.
The number of confirmed cases nationwide rose by 13 yesterday, including cases in Lanchester and Heighington, County Durham and Aysgarth, North Yorkshire.
Foot-and-mouth 'under control'
April 20, 2001
The Government's chief scientist last night announced that the foot-and-mouth epidemic was 'fully under control'.
Professor David King said the policy of mass culling healthy livestock as well as infected animals had been a success bringing about a drop in the daily number of outbreaks - proof that the disease was now under control. That figure stood at 27 last Sunday compared with 43 a fortnight ago. There are now 1,394 confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth in the UK with 575,000 animals awaiting slaughter.
April 11, 2001
Angry Tow Law residents blocked a road yesterday in protest at a planned foot-and-mouth burning and burial site on the village's Inkerman site.
The Durham Police helicopter hovered overhead as the crowd of 100 gathered at the site entrance.
Twenty lorries were forced to stand on the nearby A68 as police moved people and cars from the entrance. People living in the windswept County Durham village are angry that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) dropped leaflets through their doors just hours before a public meeting last Friday intended to gauge public opinion on the site which is virtually on their doorsteps.
Illegal sheep movements
By that time work had already started on building access roads for the lorries carrying animal carcasses on to the land. This latest protest comes less than a week after the bodies of 900 dead animals had to be exhumed from another site close to the village after it was discovered they had been buried next to an underground spring.
A defiant Middleton-in-Teesdale farmer last night ignored police warnings to abandon his home amid allegations that his actions may have spread foot-and-mouth disease throughout a terrified farming community.
Durham trading standards officers have confirmed they are investigating 24 allegations of illegal sheep movements between various sites in the county. Meanwhile a number of similar allegations have been investigated in North Yorkshire - six of which may lead to possible prosecution. Nationally, 309 suspected cases of illegal sheep movements have been investigated since the outbreak began. Yesterday 27 new outbreaks were confirmed, taking the total number throughout the UK to 1,191.
April 5, 2001
A man was arrested yesterday in connection with the shooting of a slaughterman during the mass cull of livestock at Great Orton in Cumbria. He is being questioned at Carlisle police station. The victim, from Hastings, East Sussex, is fighting for his life with serious head injuries. Both men were involved in the killing of livestock at the mass burial site on the former airfield.
The 1,000th case of foot-and-mouth was confirmed yesterday in the shadow of Cumbria's mass animal grave. However, the Government's chief scientific adviser said last night that measures to wipe out the disease were beginning to bite and the outbreak could be significantly stifled by June.
Professor David King said the number of new cases appeared to be going down for the first time but warned it was vital to continue the slaughter policy.
It could be a week before Environment Agency experts can be sure that water downstream from a contaminated burial site near Tow Law County Durham is safe. Samples from Houselop Beck are being checked for infection after 900 sheep and cattle carcasses were buried by mistake in a quarry 15 metres from a spring.
April 3, 2001
The plight of farmers in his North East heartland persuaded Prime Minister Tony Blair to scrap his plans for a May 3 election in favour of a June 7 poll.
Mr Blair ended the uncertainty this week when he announced the May 3 county council elections would be put off for five weeks because of the foot-and-mouth crisis. It means that the General Election will almost certainly be held on the same date, although he made no reference to this in his announcement.
This is the first time an election date has been delayed since the second World War.
March 30, 2001
The Appleby Horse Fair, the annual June gathering for travellers from across the country, has been cancelled because of the foot-and-mouth epidemic. Large numbers of fair-goers usually set off on a pilgrimage to the Cumbrian market weeks ahead of the festival. This year they have been urged to stay away. The event dates back to medieval times and this is the first time it has been cancelled since 1750 when there was also an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease then known as 'contagious distemper'.
March 30, 2001
Britain could face milk shortages if the government does not vaccinate the country's dairy herd against foot-and-mouth, Lord Haskins, chairman of Northern Foods, warned today.
He said milk shortages were inevitable if the disease were took hold on dairy farms because fresh milk supplies cannot be easily imported. Many of the UK's dairy farms are close to the worse centres of the epidemic such as Devon.
The warning came as Prime Minister Tony Blair and Agriculture Minister Nick Brown met farmers' leaders to press home the case for a vaccination firewall to halt the spread of the disease. Mr Brown is in the disease hotspot of Cumbria and Mr Blair in Dumfries and Galloway where a pre-emptive cull is said to be having a good impact on disease control.
Confusing messages
Thirty-eight new cases of foot-and-mouth were confirmed yesterday, bringing the UK total to 780, 373 of them in the North East and Cumbria.
Meanwhile The Archbishop of York, the Right Reverend David Hope, has joined farmers and the Conservatives in backing the postponement of the widely expected May 3 election.
The Prime Minister is said to be making a final decision on the election this weekend. His decision on whether to implement a limited vaccination programme is expected later today.
Beleagured tourism bosses have mounted a concerted campaign to help draw visitors back into the region's countryside. Northumbria Tourist Board chief executive Peter Sloyan has warned that disaster threatens rural businesses unless visitors return. He said people had received confusing messages over whether the countryside is open or not.
Those of you who are planning a visit to the UK this Spring and Summer, and I know many of you are, can find up-to-date visitor information atwww.visitnorthumbria.com orwww.co-ordination.gov.uk
Visitor attractions opening this weekend for the first time since the crisis started include:Souter Lighthouse in South Tyneside; Washington Old Hall, Cherryburn and the Farne Islands in Northumberland; Nunnington Hall and Rievaulx Abbey and Temples near Helmsley, North Yorkshire.
French blockade chocolate eggs for orphans
March 30, 2001
French officials have stopped a North-East lorry on a mercy mission to Romanian orphanages - after discovering its cargo contained 500 Cadbury's Creme Eggs.
They fear the eggs, packed among 44 tonnes of essential supplies, could have been made with the milk of infected British cows and could risk spreading foot-and-mouth disease.
The Romanian driver, who speaks neither French nor English, was told to unload the 40ft trailer or turn around and return to the charity's Stockton base. Rod Jones, founder of Convoy Aid, said the French were 'paranoid'. Cadbury's insist the eggs are perfectly safe and have offered to write a letter for Convoy Aid to present to the French.
Culled sheep buried at old airfield
March 26, 2001
The burial of 200,000 sheep culled because of foot-and-mouth began today at the disused Great Orton airfield in Cumbria.
The Army has extracted thousands of tons of earth to construct the first of several burial trenches to help clear the huge backlog of slaughtered animals awaiting disposal.
About 1,200 carcasses in sealed containers arrived at Great Orton this morning. The site will be used for both slaughter and burial. More trenches will be dug and will eventually hold up to half a million carcasses.
Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said resources had been increased to help the 'special problem' in Cumbria, the county worst hit by the outbreak.
The number of cases around the country now stands at 613. There are fears that the disease may spread across the fells of the Lake District after the first case there was confirmed at the weekend.
More foot-and-mouth cases in North-East
February 28, 2001
Two new cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed in County Durham last night.
The disease was found at a haulage firm in Wolsingham and an abattoir at Witton-le-Wear. The Wolsingham case was linked to a sheep sold at Darlington Mart. Four new cases were discovered today: Two in Wales and one each in Lancashire and Herefordshire, bringing the nationwide total to 22.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has called an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the deepening crisis. The ban on the movement of livestock, which had been due to end on Friday, is to be extended for two weeks.
All horseracing has been banned for a week amid fears that the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National in April will have to be abandoned. During the last major outbreak of foot-and-mouth, in 1967, racing was suspended in Britain for six weeks. Horses are immune to the disease but can spread it.
Saturday's Wales v Ireland Six Nations Rugby Union Championship match in Cardiff has also been called off in a bid to keep foot-and-mouth out of Ireland.
High winds increase
foot-and-mouth toll
February 27, 2001
High winds have blown foot-and-mouth disease to another North East farm. MAFF experts confirmed that the virus had now spread to Westerhope, Northumberland - less than four miles from where the disease is believed to have started, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12.
The mass burning of carcasses continues amid fears that a seven-day ban on animal movements has failed to contain the disease. The number of animals slaughtered or due for slaughter is now about 7,000.
Farmers across the country are now turning their farms into fortresses, putting down disinfectant at the entrance, locking gates and allowing only essential visitors. The UK government is expected to invoke rarely-used powers to close public footpaths near farms as European Union vets prepare to discuss the spiralling crisis.
In the Netherlands and Germany thousands of animals recently imported from the UK have been slaughtered, along with local farm animals with which they have come into contact. French authorities have tracked down about 47,000 animals imported from the UK in the past 30 days for testing.
February 22, 2001
Britain's farming industry was in crisis today following an outbreak of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease. All exports of live animals, meat and dairy products have been banned, putting Britain into virtual quarantine.
The nation's first outbreak of the highly infectious airborne disease for 20 years was discovered in 27 pigs at an abattoir in Brentwood, Essex.
Cheale Meats in Little Warley and an adjoining farm have been completely sealed off and all 360 beasts in the abattoir slaughtered.
Five farms were ringed by five-mile animal movement exclusion areas last night as attempts to restrict the disease were stepped up.
It is thought that one of the infected animals came from a market in Selby, North Yorkshire. That farm, plus farms in Great Horwood, Buckinghamshire, Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight, Stroud, Gloucestershire and Goole, East Yorkshire, are subject to exclusion zones.
The last major foot-and-mouth epidemic in Britain was in 1967. More than 2,364 outbreaks were detected and almost half a million animals slaughtered.
Have your say
Do you have views on this subject? Click on the link to write to me and share them!
Write to Sue
Read more:
24-04-01
Slaughterman may have
foot-and-mouth
20-04-01
Foot-and-mouth 'under control'
11-04-01
Foot-and-mouth protest
30-03-01
Appleby Horse Fair called off
30-03-01
French blockade chocolate eggs for orphans
26-03-01
Culled sheep buried at old airfield
28-02-01
More foot-and-mouth cases in North-East
27-02-01
High winds increase
foot-and-mouth toll
22-02-01
Foot-and-mouth is back
read on
Have your say
Do you have views on this subject? Click on the link to write to me and share them!
Write to Sue
read on
Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Sue Kelly. Tastes of Home