Foot-and-mouth 'cover-up' denied

Mr Brown denies that figures are being 'massaged'

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown has denied that the Ministry of Agriculture is deliberately misleading the public about the true number of new outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease.

Some farmers have suggested that - in the run-up to the general election - information from Maff has been unreliable.

Crisis in Wales

Total confirmed cases UK-wide 1,639 - with 91 in Wales

Powys - 57 cases

Anglesey - 13 cases

Monmouthshire - 16 cases

Caerphilly 1

Rhondda Cynon Taff - 1

Neath Port Talbot -1

Newport - 3

During a visit to mid Wales this week, Shadow Agriculture Minister Tim Yeo claimed that the true scale of the crisis had been suppressed.

But Mr Brown said the number of new infected premises was coming down by about a half every fortnight - and rejected suggestions that the figures were being "massaged".

Asked about the disease figures, Mr Brown told BBC News: "In my time as minister I have only given one instruction to civil servants about the statistics that we are collecting, and that was to put the figures into the public domain.

I absolutely refute the suggestion that civil servants are somehow fiddling the figures

Nick Brown
Agriculture Minister

"They are compiled by independent civil servants and every single animal purchased by the government for disease control reasons is paid for, and the money has to be accounted for.

"I absolutely refute the suggestion that civil servants are somehow fiddling the figures."

The official number of foot-and-mouth cases in Wales currently stands at 91 - with a total of 1,640, around the UK - although reports suggest the true number of infected farms is almost double this figure.

Speaking in Brecon on Tuesday, Mr Yeo urged Tony Blair to concede that the crisis was "still not under control".

"Tony Blair is desperately anxious to sweep all this under the carpet until June 7," he said.

Tim Yeo claimed the figures had been 'massaged'

"We are confident now that the figures are being massaged to reduce the number of reported cases."

The Daily Telegraph says about 1,500 more cases exist among animals slaughtered as part of contiguous culls or "dangerous contacts".

This, the paper quotes Maff as saying, is a "significant" number which justifies the scale of the cull in which more than three million animals have been killed.

Meanwhile, moves to reopen footpaths around Wales have been met with a furious response from farmers who have said the move is "premature".

Paths in tourist attractions in north Wales were reopened for walkers ahead of the May bank holiday.

Referring to a recent outbreaks of the disease in north Yorkshire, Anglesey farmer Eifion Hughes urged caution.

"It is better to stay shut an extra week than open a day too soon," he said.

Milk from dozens of farms has been tested

"We have to be extremely careful if people think they can wander all over the place."

Adding to those concerns food experts warned on Friday that dairy herds could be at risk from raised levels of cancer-causing dioxins if they graze near to foot-and-mouth carcass pyres.

The Food Standards Agency said the risk of contamination was slight and stressed that the majority of milk sold would not be affected.

Foot-and-mouth facts

Total number of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases in the UK 1,640 - One new case on Friday

3,030,000 animals slaughtered

73,000 animals awaiting slaughter

15,000 carcasses awaiting disposal

Even so, Wales's 3,500 dairy farmers are to receive the technical warning from the FSA.

And a leading scientist warned there may be a danger of BSE getting into water supplies in areas surrounding foot-and-mouth burial sites.

The risks of either of these eventualities is extremely slight, scientists say, but the news will have done little to allay health fears.

On Friday, Professor Peter Smith, a government advisor on BSE and vCJD, warned that BSE may enter drinking water if cattle older than five years were buried.

He said the risk of the transmission of the disease to humans could be increased dramatically - to one in 200,000 - if contaminated water was drunk.