'No end in sight' to foot-and-mouth

Army butchers are being used for the first time

As the slaughter programme to tackle foot-and-mouth disease intensifies, Tony Blair has admitted he cannot say when the outbreak will be brought under control.

The prime minister told the Commons tackling the disease had proved "extremely difficult" in areas such as Cumbria.

Army butchers are being used for the first time to help slaughter a backlog of more than 280,000 animals as killing begins at a massive burial site in Great Orton, Cumbria.

The total number of confirmed cases in the UK has risen to 729, with 36 new outbreaks of the disease.

It is hoped a cull of healthy animals in Cumbria will create a firebreak around areas where foot-and-mouth is prevalent, and stop it spreading.

Other burial sites are planned in Devon and on the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire border.

Crisis in the UK

36 new cases

Total confirmed cases 729

764,319 animals due for slaughter

481,909 already slaughtered

346,998 carcasses destroyed

The seriousness of the disease was sufficient for General Sir Mike Jackson, Commander-in-Chief of Land Forces, to pledge publicly that Army personnel were totally committed to overcoming the crisis.

He described it as a "rather different type of conflict and it is in our own country".

As part of efforts to stamp out the disease, Britain has received approval from European Union vets for vaccination of animals around affected UK areas if necessary.

The Netherlands has already been given permission to vaccinate in limited circumstances.

Mr Blair told the Commons it was difficult to predict how the outbreak would develop because new evidence suggested around 1.3 million sheep had been moved or exported during February when the disease could have been incubating.

Tory Leader William Hague said not enough was being done to tackle the disease, claiming there was a "serious lack of resources on the frontline in certain areas".

He demanded the use of "every appropriate military resource and every available vet and every ounce of your energy and attention".

Livestock movement

But Mr Blair said "every resource" possible was being made available to fight the disease.

He said: "We have already slaughtered more in this outbreak than we did in the entirety of the 1967 outbreak that went on over eight months.

"But the big difference between then and now was that there were far fewer movements of livestock then than now."

Up to half a million sheep will be buried

Mr Blair said because of the number of earlier sheep movements, there would be parts of the country where it would be difficult to tackle the disease by the means "originally contemplated".

Mr Blair said: "When you say how can we be sure when the disease is going to end, the answer is we cannot be sure at the present time."

Mr Blair said the government would consider vaccination for areas where the disease was "particularly strong" but only after consultation.

Click here to see 1967 foot-and-mouth figures compared to 2001 figures.

The aim in the UK is to confine the disease within Cumbria and prevent it spreading south into the Lake District with its roaming flocks of sheep.

The message is clear, go and visit the countryside, but stay off the farmland

Tony Blair

Tony Blair has reiterated the government's commitment to helping a UK tourist industry whose revenue is being threatened by the foot-and-mouth crisis.

The rural tourist industry - worth £12bn a year in England alone - is already losing an estimated £100m a week, and faces a nightmare Easter season if visitors continue to stay away.

Mr Blair told the British Chamber of Commerce annual conference many rural businesses were being hit by the lack of visitors and said: "All of us have got to get over the message that Britain is indeed open for business.

"The message is clear, go and visit the countryside, but stay off the farmland," Mr Blair added.

The Office for National Statistics has confirmed a census in England and Wales this year will go ahead, with "special arrangements", despite the decision in the Irish Republic to postpone the count until 2002.

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