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You are in: In Depth: Foot and mouth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sunday, 25 March, 2001, 14:00 GMT 15:00 UK
Foot-and-mouth disease
The epidemic goes from bad to worse with new outbreaks up and down the country and dozens of new cases emerging every day. The army is called in to help as civilian authorities fail to cope with the task of culling hundreds of thousands of condemned livestock. BBC News Online follows the story in Audio and Video.
29 March 2001
As the total number of foot-and-mouth cases reached 773 the disease showed no sign of abating. Much of Britain remains unaffected but when the BBC's Robert Hall took a helicopter flight over the worst affected areas, the extent of the disaster was plain to see.
28 March 2001
With more than 700 confirmed outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, the army is playing a more significant role with General Sir Mike Jackson co-ordinating operations in Cumbria. The EC has given permission for vaccination to be used in the worst affected areas. Gavin Hewitt reports.
27 March 2001
On the day which saw the biggest single increase in the number of cases of foot-and-mouth - bringing the total to 693 - the government announces a ban on feeding pigswill to livestock and proposes possible vaccination to prevent further spreading. Fergus Walsh reports.
26 March 2001 Sheep infected with foot-and-mouth disease were buried in a mass grave in Cumbria as the effort to eradicate the disease is stepped up. The total number of cases has reached 634 and the outbreak shows no sign of abating. Gavin Hewitt reports
The Army is prepares a mass grave in Cumbria for hundreds of thousands of sheep which have been slaughtered in an attempt to wipe out foot-and-mouth disease. The BBC's Nick Thatcher reports.
As the first cases of foot-and-mouth are discovered in the Irish Republic, Tony Blair promises farmers in Cumbria he will "gear up" the national effort to eradicate the disease. Richard Bilton reports.
Prime Minister Tony Blair says local elections planned for 3 May will go ahead, despite the foot-and-mouth outbreak. He rejected calls from opposition parties to delay the elections in worst-hit areas - though he said he would listen to concerns. The BBC's Andrew Marr reports.
Every day more farmers are being forced to come to terms with the slaughter of their entire livestock. Today it was the turn of Alistair Wannop at his farm near Carlisle. The BBC's Kevin Bocquet spent the day there.
Britain's chief vet says culling healthy animals to wipe out foot-and-mouth disease will continue, despite growing anger among farmers. The BBC's Richard Bilton followed Jim Scudamore around Cumbria.
A study reveals the foot-and-mouth outbreak will cost the UK economy £9bn, as farmers voice concerns over the cull of healthy animals.
17 March 2001 The UK Government faces fresh calls to abandon the planned mass slaughter of livestock in areas worst hit by foot-and-mouth disease.
16 March 2001 There is growing opposition, in the parts of the country worst affected by foot and mouth disease, to the new government plans for the mass slaughter of healthy animals. The BBC's Richard Bilton reports.
15 March 2001 The government orders the slaughter of up to one million pigs and sheep to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth. The animals are healthy but because of their proximity to infected farms they will be killed. Fergus Walsh reports.
14 March 2001 The government insists the local elections will proceed on May 3 despite concern over foot-and-mouth disrupting campaigning. Plaid Cymru and the NFU have both urged the agriculture ministry to delay the ballot.
Mainland Europe's worst fears are realised as the first case of foot and mouth reaches France. It is thought the disease, which was discovered in cattle, had spread from a neighbouring farm which had recently imported British sheep. Now the European Union has banned all exports of French livestock and the US has banned meat exports from Europe.
Emergency measures to stop the spread of the disease could include killing half a million sheep trapped in winter pastures. The UK government says the animals - about to begin lambing - urgently need to be moved, but transportation could create an unacceptable risk of infection.
As the number of cases continues to rise, a government minister in Dublin describes Britain's handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis as 'scandalous' saying ministers seemed to think the disease was just going to go away.
Foot-and-mouth disease continues to grip Britain and farmers in affected areas are growing increasingly desperate. As the total number of cases nears 150 concern mounts that animals cannot be culled fast enough. Robert Pigott reports.
Twenty new cases of foot-and-mouth were reported on Friday - the highest daily total so far. And the government warned of a "second wave" of infection as the disease spreads from sheep to cattle. Richard Bilton reports.
The number of foot-and-mouth outbreaks passes 100 as the chief veterinary officer warns that the worst is still to come. Cases are spread throughout the country and several rural areas are under siege. Richard Bilton reports.
The famous Cheltenham Festival - the world's biggest national hunt meeting - is the latest victim of the foot-and-mouth outbreak. The decision was taken because sheep had been allowed to graze on the racetrack. The town stands to lose millions of pounds. The BBC's Jane O' Brien reports from Cheltenham.
Farmers desperate to move livestock free of the disease are granted special licences to take their animals to abattoirs. But the number of qualifying farms is dwindling as 76 cases of foot-and-mouth are confirmed in Britain.
The latest sites to be identified with foot-and-mouth disease are in Devon and County Durham. Thousands of farm animals on Dartmoor may have to be slaughtered - after an outbreak on a farm in the park. Richard Bilton reports.
The culling of infected animals continues as the foot-and-mouth outbreak spreads across the UK - with five new cases confirmed.
Fears grow that the disease may have spread to mainland Europe after Belgium announces its first suspected case.
The UK government is to ease the ban on livestock movements to help farmers hit by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
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