Farmers hope for disease 'all clear'

Animal movements remain restricted

Farmers are calling on the government to introduce tighter border controls to protect Britain from future outbreaks of foot and mouth.

The demand was made as the three-month milestone since the last reported case of the disease approached.

We believe as farmers that the disease should not have got into the country so easily

Tim Bennett
NFU

It means there is a chance the country will be declared free of the disease in time for the new year.

Government officials could decide as early as next Monday whether to lift the "at risk" status still covering four parts of the country - Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland.

This will remove special restrictions on animal movements in those counties.

But it is likely to be mid-February before wider controls, including the ban on livestock markets are removed from the whole of England and Wales.

'Battle won'

Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers' Union, said: "To pass the three-month landmark will be a tremendous morale boost to farmers up and down the country.

The outbreak brought ruin for many

"It has been a long battle with the disease, but it looks very much like we have won.

"It brings a hope that we can start to move swiftly to regaining our disease-free status and break free of the costly straightjacket of disease restrictions."

The last case of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed in Cumbria on 30 September, eight months after the start of the outbreak, which was the most serious animal disease epidemic in the UK in modern times.

The farming community has been holding its breath ever since and even now there is no certainty the "at risk" status will be lifted.

The Chief Veterinary Officer must first be satisfied that the country is clear of the disease and further blood testing will continue in badly hit areas.

Awaiting the slaughter

But NFU deputy president Tim Bennett warned that lessons needed to be learnt about how the "biggest outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the world" entered this country.

"We believe as farmers that the disease should not have got into the country so easily," said Mr Bennett, who cited Australia, New Zealand, the US, Thailand and Slovenia as having better disease controls than the UK.

"Farmers will want to see better border protection from the disease coming into this country.

"As my members constantly tell me, we can do everything we like, but if the government doesn't tighten the borders, then it will be a complete waste of time," he told the BBC.

The next step for many in the farming community is the relaxation of restrictions imposed at the start of the outbreak.

Some in the farming and livestock market communities are upset, however, that the 20-day standstill requirement will remain in place.

This prevents the movement of all animals off a premises for 20 days after those animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth arrive.

Exports of most animal products are allowed from parts of the country declared foot-and-mouth free.

Pigs spread the disease fast

This will extend to the four remaining "at risk" areas when the status is lifted.

A spokeswoman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) refused to speculate on the possible outcome of the results, but said a "massive effort" had been put in to completing the tests.

"The three months guideline is just one element of all this.

"Each region has its own peculiarities and the Chief Veterinary Officer has to take a view on each case.

"We are not going to pre-empt any decision," she said.

Foot-and-mouth was first confirmed by Government vets on 20 February this year and traced to a farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland.

About 3.9 million animals were slaughtered for disease-control purposes and two million for welfare reasons such as dwindling feed and space.