Is Britain to blame?

Pyres cannot cope with number of destroyed livestock

With the UK Government under fire for its handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis, BBC News Online's Matt Maclean asked a panel of experts for their views on whether more could have been done.

The comments of Irish minister Hugh Byrne, who has said the handling of the crisis has been "nothing short of a scandal", are also set out below.

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Irish Natural Resources Minister Hugh Byrne

"It is rampant in Britain and my feeling is that at this stage it is out of control. The numbers are greater every day and consequently you are the lepers of Europe.

"I think the way the BSE problem was handled should have taught Britain a lesson, it doesn't appear to have done because they have ham-fistedly handled this in the same fashion.

Obviously your borders are not as well monitored as they should be.

Hugh Byrne
Irish Natural Resources Minister

"It is carelessness, thoughtlessness and probably a lack of leadership.

"This plague came in from outside and obviously your borders are not as well monitored as they should be.

"When you're bringing in meat, maybe because its cheaper, from countries with the disease, you've got to be more careful.

"You just stop all meats at the borders, that's how it has to be.

"Listening to Nick Brown, who says he has it under control, I have absolutely no confidence in the way Britain is pursuing this thing."

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Tim Miles, Meat and Livestock Commission's veterinary manager

"Given the scale of the outbreak it is difficult to be critical.

"When the government brought in the total movement ban, that was seen as quite a dramatic measure at the beginning.

"The ban was, in my view, very sensible and almost unavoidable.

Slaughter is the best policy

Tim Miles
MLC

"Even with that move we are still facing more than 150 cases to date.

"Heaven knows what would have happened if that had not been done.

"Bearing in mind all the factors, slaughter is the best policy.

"The important thing is to kill the animals to stop them excreting the virus.

"What they are being overwhelmed with now is the logistics of disposal.

"There will be some lessons to be learned, probably about movements of livestock around the country."

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Professor Mac Johnston, Royal Veterinary College

"We got hit by an outbreak that stacked the odds against us in that we had sheep involved, and sheep that had been moved.

"Sheep do not show obvious clinical signs of foot-and-mouth, maybe just 1% showing signs.

"One of the signs is lameness, but how many lame sheep do you get every year? Three million.

It is wholly wrong to analyse these things at this time

Professor Mac Johnston
Royal Veterinary College

"And with sheep you're into big numbers. It is just sheer logistics and there are an awful lot of tracings to be done here.

"If it had been in that farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall as long as it was then it could have been picked up sooner. That was the key to stopping it spreading.

"But I think it is wholly wrong to analyse these things at this time.

"You're working on limited data, incomplete data and people who are running ragged to try to control the disease. They do not have time to stop and use the retroscope."

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Julie Briggs, spokesperson for Compassion in World Farming

"In this instance we may have to concede that a cull has to take place.

"But we would question how far and wide the cull needs to be when it comes in the middle of lambing.

We need to look at reducing journeys and improving intensive farming practices

Julie Briggs,
CIWF

"Really they ought to be taken to shelters and given every chance of surviving the outbreak, to avoid killing animals unnecessarily.

"Then we do need to take a long term approach to how we can protect animals from disease and the spread of disease.

"We need to look at reducing journeys and improving intensive farming practices, so that animals are not kept in close-packed environments where they become stressed and therefore susceptible to disease.

"These methods have contributed to the spread."

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Professor Philip Duffus, Bristol Veterinary School

"The government was absolutely correct in slapping on a total ban on movement very early on.

"It was quite a draconian move but obviously the right move. Sadly the disease had already spread quite a lot before it was discovered.

"But because we have stopped movement, the spread should hopefully just be local and we should be able to snuff it out.

It was quite a draconian move but obviously the right move

Professor Philip Duffus
Bristol Veterinary School

"The good news is that it is not showing any signs of breaking out of these hot spots.

"We cannot stop the strategy we have got, we have got to keep going with it.

"We should try to stop all unnecessary movement on and off farms.

"Any gathering of large amounts of people from farms all over the country - in other words horse racing.

"The risk is tiny but it is still a theoretical risk and this is all about perception.

"We should also stop feeding swill to pigs, and stop importing from countries with infection."