A vet rallies to the cause

Becoming the bearer of bad tidings was all in a day's work

Vet Francis Anthony outlines how the foot-and-mouth (FMD) outbreak in Cumbria has affected him in the past week.

Responding to an appeal for vets with FMD experience, I drive the 230 miles from my Herefordshire practice to Carlisle to join other Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVI) tackling the outbreak.

On Saturday after a short induction period at Maff's Carlisle offices and a video screening on FMD, I collect my kit of protective clothing, disinfection equipment and a mountain of paperwork.

Crisis in the UK

11 new cases on Thursday

Total confirmed cases 742

788,956 animals due for slaughter

496,821 already slaughtered

349,379 carcasses destroyed

I am a 'clean vet', one yet to go on an infected premises (IP) and I have experience of FMD from a six-week spell in Cheshire during the 1967/68 outbreak.

There are not many of us about, although the place is swarming with over 100 TVIs eager to do their bit.

Fighting a losing battle

The day is spent sorting out equipment and answering 'phones in an office where administration is stretched to the limit.

Everyone has been working long hours but the general feeling is that the battle is being lost.

It is taking far too long to get animals slaughtered and lack of organisation is leading to major problems with carcass disposal.

Sunday and I am sent to the north of Alnwick, Northumberland, some 98 miles away, to investigate lameness in some housed ewes.

It is taking far too long to get animals slaughtered and lack of organisation is leading to major problems with disposal of carcasses

Francis Anthony, vet

Leaving my car at the farm gate and bedecked in space-like protective clothing, it is with some fear that I walk boldly up the drive to meet a worried farmer called Tom who spent the previous few days arguing with his young shepherd about what caused the lameness.

An initial inspection reassures me there is not much wrong and close examination of three lame sheep reveals advanced foot rot.

"Well, we'll celebrate tonight, " says Tom.

How to make someone happy in five minutes!

Monday and snow is not far off. It is cold and miserable and the mood in the camp is subdued.

I get called to a farm 12 miles from Carlisle, in an area relatively free of the disease, to examine a flock of sheep in which 25% went lame over two days.

The real thing

This sounds much more serious than yesterday's case.

Armed with a bucket and disinfectant, I trudge up the long drive to a typical small Cumbrian farm of 40 acres.

Robert, a man in his mid-40s, greets me sombrely but manages a smile when I say I am a real vet, not a full-time 'Ministry' man.

As I walk through the first bunch of ewes, a few with lambs, I am struck by the disinterest in their eyes.

Apparently fighting a losing battle

Surprise and apprehension would normally greet a stranger in this quiet area, but most of the animals barely acknowledge my presence.

They are sick and an old ewe shows typical signs of advanced FMD - healing ulcers in the mouth, on the dental pad, and healed blisters on one hind foot, where the skin merges with the hoof.

Other ewes show various lesions, some recent, some old, both in the mouth and on the feet.

One yearling heifer looks unwell and dribbles profusely.

"You don't need me to tell you, Robert, do you?" I say.

"No, I knew this morning, but I had hoped that I had got away with it, " he replies.

"You see, I worked in Longtown market on 24 February and helped to clean up on the 26, so I must have brought it back then," he adds.

This fits well with the presence of some old lesions in one of the ewes that must have developed FMD in the first 10-14 days and then infected others.

Pride and joy

Robert then directs me to his pride and joy, a shed of pedigree Blue-Faced Border Leicester ewes and lambs.

"That was the champion Shearling in Carlisle last year," he says.

"Look at tha' gran; teep lam, t'll mak' a champion," he adds.

These lambs are not yet sick, but they have but a few hours to live. What a waste!

The paperwork is daunting and we adjourn to the kitchen where I am greeted with apprehensive looks from Gran, Mum and daughter.

They all know that I have bad news and tears are held back with great dignity.

Sick animals were killed within an hour

I later hear that it was a relief as the entire family had been on tenterhooks for three weeks - no-one ventured out and no-one visited for nearly a month.

Confirmation from the FMD Co-ordinating Centre in London is swift as is the stock valuation, which is done by an auctioneer from Longtown by nightfall.

The heifer is despatched with a lethal injection on humane grounds.

Tuesday and the long wait for the slaughter team, held up on another farm, frustrates me and distresses the family.

The two slaughterers arrive at 1700BST and 152 ewes, four tups, nine cattle and 70 lambs are killed in just over an hour.

The target of 24 hours from diagnosis to slaughter is achieved but only just.

I have spent all my professional life caring for the health and welfare of my charges and this necessary evil is sickening

Francis Anthony

I personally despatch the lambs, which ranged in age from 10 minutes to 10 days old, by lethal injection.

I feel totally dejected. I have spent all my professional life caring for the health and welfare of my charges and this necessary evil is sickening.

After disinfecting the bodies there is more paperwork.

After handing over to a young army sergeant, I bid farewell to Robert who tells me to watch out for that champion in Carlisle Fair.

"I'll be back, don't you worry," he says.

Back in the office of my own practice on Wednesday, a phonecall to his farm reveals that the decision to bury has been rescinded and the rotting carcasses will not be collected for at least 10 days. I despair!

I will travel back to Carlisle on Friday and start again.