Warning signs 'ignored'

Disease may have been hidden in sheep for weeks

The outbreak of swine fever in the UK last summer was a warning that foot-and-mouth disease could be around the corner, according to a leading vet.

Strict regulations have been in place to control both diseases.

But veterinary expert Professor Mac Johnston said the failure to heed these regulations - specifically the treatment of pig swill and the control of illegal meat imports - may be behind both outbreaks.

Substandard pig swill may have caused the outbreak

"Swine fever reminded us that people needed to pay heed to the regulations."

Professor Johnston, of the Royal Veterinary College, said: "It is a question of robust enforcement."

He said BSE had also been a lesson in the dangers of not enforcing the rules.

He was speaking ahead of Tuesday afternoon's planned release of a Ministry of Agriculture (Maff) report on the source of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Seven strains

Maff is expected to point the finger at illegal imports of infected meat from the Far East.

The strain now seen in the UK is one of seven major types, and the most prevalent internationally.

Since it was identified in India in 1990 it has spread west through Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria, and east through Nepal, China and Taiwan.

The thing lacking is enforcement

Professor Mac Johnston

It is thought meat may have been smuggled into the UK for use in Chinese restaurants, particularly an unnamed outlet in the north east of England.

It is feared the restaurant then sent its unused off-cuts to a swill operation, which in turn distributed the swill to a farm in Northumberland.

If swill is boiled for one hour at 100C - as required by law since 1973 - the foot-and-mouth virus would be killed along with swine fever and swine vesicular disease.

"The thing lacking is enforcement," said Professor Johnston.

'No evidence'

Professor Philip Duffus, of the Bristol Veterinary School, called for the banning of pig swill in the wake of foot-and-mouth.

"If you follow the regulations it is 100% safe. But you can't have an inspector watching every time you boil up the swill.

"It is an almost medieval practice...and we don't need it."

It appears that foot-and-mouth may have been spreading in sheep flocks several weeks before it was first identified in pigs from Burnside Farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall.

'Worrying'

Professor Johnston said BSE and swine fever had made imports more economically attractive.

But it was "worrying" that nobody had quantified the scale of illegal imports of meat into the UK, he said.

His concerns were echoed by the Association of Port Health Authorities.

Last week it warned of serious "deficiencies" in controls to prevent illegal meat products being imported into the UK.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has joined the association to call for stricter controls and further studies to uncover the extend of the problem.