Foot-and-mouth: A vet's tale

Soldiers spraying disinfectant on farms in 1967

Yorkshire vet and thePigsite.com consultant Mike Muirhead speaks to BBC News Online about the 1967 foot-and-mouth outbreak and provides an insight into the frightening possibility of what may lie ahead.

It seems a distant past some 34 years ago when foot-and-mouth disease broke out in Cheshire, but the current outbreak brings back many memories of that disaster.

I was drafted in from general practice in Yorkshire in October 1967, approximately two weeks after the disease started.

I joined many other veterinary surgeons brought in to help from other parts of the country.

Mike Muirhead was drafted in to help in 1967

When I arrived in Oswestry on the first Saturday afternoon of October I was "designated clean" because I had not seen foot-and-mouth disease before.

As I approached the town the air was thick with the of smell disinfectant and burning carcasses.

Later, as the night drew in the sky would glow a warm red from numerous fires, a scene which was to become all too familiar.

I was immediately despatched to the hills behind the town to carry out inspections of three potential contact farms.

The gate of my first farm was shut and firmly padlocked.

A burly farmer stood guard, there was clearly no way he was going to let me in.

Terrifying disease

Two days later I was moved to Market Drayton, a heavily affected area.

Within 24 hours I was on my way to a suspect case at a farm.

My most poignant memories are of the farmers and staff who lost their herds and in many cases their livelihoods

Mike Muirhead

As I drove down the drive to the buildings, a cow was standing still in the field, her mouth open with saliva drooling.

This was my first terrifying experience of the disease.

On the farm I examined an old Friesian cow, she looked at me with obvious pain in her eyes, tongue protruding.

I held out my hand and placed it on the end of her badly blistered tongue, which to my great dismay simply came off in my hand leaving a raw ulcerated area behind.

The cow trembled with pain.

There were eight cows showing symptoms and after phone confirmation from the Ministry, I had the unenviable task of destroying these animals immediately.

Burning: "The only solution"

Following this initial experience I was considered "dirty" and from this time on I would only work on affected premises.

On this farm we were told to burn the animals.

Tonnes of coal, railway sleepers, diesel, oil, straw and personnel arrived with diggers and JCBS, together with gallons of disinfectant.

My most poignant memories even today are of the farmers and staff who lost their herds and in many cases their livelihoods.

The stoicism and realism with which they accepted the outcome was quite remarkable and they had my greatest admiration.

Pain and suffering

It was not easy to accept wholesale destruction of large populations of animals, however it is difficult to explain the pain and suffering foot-and-mouth disease causes animals, particularly cows.

There are seven main types of the virus with many different strains within each type.

This makes the preparation of effective vaccines for specific outbreaks, extremely difficult and immunity is not long lasting

Having seen the disease and its effects I am of the opinion, and everyone I came into contact with accepted, that the destruction of livestock is the only way forward.

In 1967 the outbreak was eventually contained to the areas around Cheshire, resulting in over 400,000 animals being slaughtered. This time we may not be so fortunate.

If luck runs out as it appears to be doing, it is almost impossible to comprehend the sheer scale of the carnage to follow.

Let's pray not, but in 2001 the counting may not be in the thousands.