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Flames and fear on the farms
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FOOT and mouth disease threatened to spread to Europe yesterday after a seventh case was confirmed on a farm in Devon owned by a dealer who exports large numbers of sheep to France.
A senior Ministry of Agriculture vet said that the spread of the disease was "extremely serious" and could reach the scale of the 1967 outbreak.
John Cross, the head of veterinary services in the South West, spoke as checks were being made at 12 other farms owned by William Cleave, whose sheep and cattle have been infected at Highampton.
Fears grew that an unknown number of infected lambs were shipped abroad before export licences were suspended on Tuesday.
Richard Haddock, Devon's representative on the ruling council of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, said: “Real fear is gripping the farming community now. Everyone down here is petrified.”
He said: “Even if they don't have the disease, they cannot move any livestock, so they can't get any income. We are approaching March when we have to pay bills and settle our rents. Many people simply don't know where the money will come from.”
Three royal parks, Richmond Park, Bushy Park and Hampton Court Home Park, all in south-west London, were shut from midnight to stop the disease from spreading to deer herds.
Residents, including Princess Alexandra, will have restricted access. Vehicles must be be disinfected.
So far about 1,300 pigs, 450 cattle and 250 sheep have been slaughtered on the first six infected farms. They will all be burned on site.
A suspected case was being investigated at Bowsden Moor Farm, Bowsden, Northumberland.
The first suspected case in Wales was being investigated at an abattoir at Gaerwen, Anglesey.
The size of the cull will rise dramatically after the latest outbreak, at Burdon Farm, run by Mr Cleave, a farmer and dealer. The ministry said that Mr Cleave bought sheep from as far north as Carlisle. All 600 cattle and 1,500 sheep at the farm will be destroyed. Mr Cleave, who operates from 10 other sites in Devon and two in Cornwall, said that he believed the disease could have emerged through animals bought at market.
Vets found foot and mouth blisters on one of his cattle and 50 others were salivating unusually. Mr Cross said that he was particularly worried that Mr Cleave was a dealer and that the farm was close to Hatherleigh, which has one of the busiest markets and abattoirs in the South West.
He said: “An extremely serious situation has arisen. We are involved in a complex tracing exercise and are checking with the owner exactly what movements there have been.
“If we find that animals have been exported, the ministry will notify the European authorities so that the animals can be slaughtered.”
One of the reasons for concern is the danger of aerial spread. In 1967 it was one of the main ways the disease spread.
He said: “The Chief Veterinary Officer has said that this outbreak is getting towards 1967 proportions. We are not at that stage yet, but there is great potential for that position to be repeated” Government vets expressed concern that the disease could be passing unnoticed in sheep because the symptoms resemble those of other diseases.
Nick Brown, the Minister of Agriculture, was in sombre mood as he prepared to travel to Brussels today for talks about curbing aid to livestock farms - an attempt by the European Commission to meet the soaring cost of tackling the beef crisis.
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