Abattoir tests spark farmers' fears

An exclusion zone has been set up around the plant

Welsh farmers are said to be bracing themselves for the worst after a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease on Anglesey in north Wales.

Tests for foot-and-mouth are being carried out on samples taken from an abattoir on the island on Sunday.

An exclusion zone has been set up around the Welsh Country Foods plant at Gaerwen, near Menai Bridge, which is at the centre of the first foot-and-mouth scare to hit Wales.

The carcasses of 800 pigs are burned in Northumberland

Meanwhile, precautionary measures are being taken across Wales in a bid to halt the spread of the disease.

Two agricultural colleges and two zoos have closed, ramblers are being urged not to walk in the countryside, and even RSPCA inspectors are having to avoid setting foot on farmland.

The Gaerwen abattoir is one of the largest in Britain, mainly supplying supermarket chains.

Experts were called in after a sheep brought to the abattoir ahead of the movement ban showed signs of the disease.

Samples have been taken from the animal and are being analysed at the Institute of Animal Health in Pirbright, Surrey.

We are all praying that this will not be confirmed. If it is foot-and-mouth, it is a serious blow to efforts to contain the disease

Alun Morris, Farmers' Union of Wales

Welsh Assembly officials said results should be ready by Monday afternoon.

Peredur Hughes, spokesman for the NFU in north Wales, said farmers in Wales were now deeply concerned, and rapid action should be taken by the authorities to avert panic.

'Serious blow'

"I think that they now have to put in place real stringent regulations to make sure that this does not spread throughout Wales - if it is proven to be foot-and-mouth", he said.

The Farmers' Union of Wales has also called for the emergency suspension of access to all National Parks and common land and temporary closure of rights of way to try and prevent the spread of the disease.

Alan Morris, of the FUW, said he hoped the suspected case in Anglesey was a serious issue for Welsh farming.

"We are all praying this will not be confirmed. If it is foot-and-mouth, it is a serious blow to efforts to contain the disease.

"The big problem is that with the closure of so many of the small abattoirs in the past few years, sheep, cattle, and pigs have to be transported for longer distances than before."

Mouth lesions

The one-year-old lamb that sparked concern is believed to be one of a number which had arrived from a farm in Yorkshire on Friday.

It was due to have been slaughtered on Monday, but staff noticed on Sunday that it had lesions around the mouth and was lame.

Welsh Country Foods Limited is part of the Grampian Country Food group.

The abattoir slaughters around 4,000 lambs and ewes at its Gaerwen abattoir every day.

Animals arrive from a wide geographical area, with many coming from the north of England and Scotland.

Flames in sky

Across the UK, fires burned through the night as the government disposed of hundreds of slaughtered animals from farms affected by foot-and-mouth disease.

The army has said it has had to curtail training in Wales because of the foot and mouth outbreak.

At the suspected source of the outbreak in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, flames lit the night sky as more than 800 slaughtered pig carcasses were burned.

On Sunday, a seventh case was confirmed 400 miles away at a large sheep and cattle farm in Highampton, north Devon.