Foot and mouth lessons have been learned

06 August 2007 09:29

Sunshine and speed might just have helped to contain the latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease to a farm in Surrey, but livestock farmers are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2001, reports rural affairs editor MICHAEL POLLITT.

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Immediate action to halt all movement of farm animals across Britain was the vital first step - taken within three hours of confirmation of foot and mouth disease in a herd of beef cattle in Surrey.

Livestock farmers, vets and Downing Street will hope the gate has been firmly shut to prevent further spread of this highly contagious farm animal disease.

The 64 cattle on the Surrey farm, the original infected premises, have been killed and now scientists will be trying to answer the really big questions: Was it the first and only case? Are there others? And how did this strain of virus infect these cattle?

Since the 2001 outbreak, which halted a general election and cost taxpayers about £4bn and the national economy a further £4bn in lost tourist income, the livestock industry has put its house in order with much better biosecurity and movement rules. It also involved the loss of about seven million cattle, sheep and pigs and caused huge damage to the countryside and the image of Britain. Who can forget those pictures of pyres of burning carcasses?

It was probably almost ideal timing for Dr Debby Reynolds, chief veterinary officer at Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), when she stopped all livestock movements on Friday night. First, there is little weekend movement to slaughterhouses and markets, giving officials time to start the detailed investigations.

Second, a key strategy was introduced after the 2001 FMD epidemic, the so-called six-day standstill rule, which means livestock can only be moved once from a farm or holding, thus preventing cross-contamination and possible infection.

Third, and probably most important, the livestock industry has been forced to adopt strict standards of biosecurity every time farm animals are transported. Trading standards officers and inspectors have, quite rightly, forced the industry to raise its game.

And the virus is killed by bright sunshine and warmth, which must also help.

Today, farmers have to comply with much stricter identification and movement records, which will help the forensic exercise to track all contacts with other livestock involving this latest case in Surrey.

So there are real reasons for optimism that this outbreak might be speedily contained - in contrast to the shambles of Whitehall's tardy response to events in February 2001.

And that would appear to be another major difference with 2001 - and indeed the outbreak through the winter and spring of 1967/68 when a total of 443,000 cattle, sheep and pigs were slaughtered. The livestock industry is now much more professional and in fewer hands, which should make it easier to track the source of this latest infection.

What is concerning is the level of security at the Institute of Animal Health's laboratories at Pirbright, just a couple of miles from the latest outbreak.

On January 21, 1961, a virus from an African type of foot and mouth leaked from its new £1m secure labs and infected 13 beef cattle and nine pigs on a farm at Worplesdon, about one and a half miles away. Then, on October 18, 1970, another escape of the “O”type of virus infected six cattle which were all slaughtered.

Have there been more escapes?

One thing which must be given much more urgent attention is the need to introduce and enforce the very highest standards of plant and animal health at the country's borders.

Britain is regarded as a laughing stock round the world for its pathetic approach to protecting national biosecurity, with travellers free to import almost as much meat, food items and plants as they can carry.

It is hardly surprising that Australia, which takes a harsh approach and bans all personal imports of food items, has not had a case of foot and mouth disease since 1832. (At Norwich International airport at Saturday lunchtime - more than 12 hours after a total movement ban on farm animals had been introduced - there was not a single sign preventing food and meat imports.)

There is no doubt the lax approach will continue to put farm, and indeed other native, animals and species at potential risk of infection.

It is almost exactly seven years to the week that another dreaded farm animal disease was confirmed on a south Norfolk outdoor pig farm - classical swine fever. The five-month outbreak of 16 cases in Norfolk and Suffolk cost the pig sector an estimated £100m and involved the slaughter of 300,000 pigs. It did major damage to the industry and had major implications for animal welfare because pigs had to be kept on farms in increasingly unsuitable conditions.

Although the exact cause was never fully established, animal health experts are fairly confident it happened because a passing walker threw a ham sandwich to a sow.

And the poultry industry, which remains vigilant against avian flu, has already had to cope with two outbreaks in the past 15 months, including the most recent at Holton involving Bernard Matthews and the H5N1 strain.

So if stricter measures have been taken at the farm and field, there should be no need to repeat the ghastly mistakes of six years ago when the countryside became a no-go area and livestock were penned in muddy fields for weeks on end.

It was the appalling EDP photograph of “Lucky the Lamb” - a potent symbol of ewes and lambs struggling for survival in a mud bath on a Broadland farm - that finally moved the former Ministry of Agriculture into action to improve animal welfare.

Of course, there are very real concerns about more cases of foot and mouth disease because it can spread on the wind across the Channel as it did in March 1981. There were 14 cases of the “O” strain in Brittany and one in Normandy, which spread to Jersey and the Isle of Wight. It should have been a wake-up call but, unfortunately, the dust was allowed to accumulate on the recommendations of a highly critical report by the Duke of Northumberland into the 1967/68 outbreak. Too little was done but, it is hoped, some of the lessons have finally been learned.

Biosecurity at borders must not be overlooked again.

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