大象传媒

• The worst outbreak so far was in 1967 when 400,000 animals were slaughtered.
• In 1981 a single case occurred on the Isle of Wight.
• Since 1982 Britain has been classified as free of the disease.
• The total number of confirmed cases in the UK has reached 1.928 cases.
  3,656,000 animals have been slaughtered.
  38,000 awaiting slaughter
  21,000 awaiting disposal

Click on a week number to access the Today 'foot and mouth' diary for that week.

WEEK 22 - 20 July On
For the latest in the previous and current week.

WEEK 15 - 22- 29 May to July 20
Reporting on foot and mouth diminished during the election campaign, however a steady stream of cases were discovered daily. The countryside was steadily opened up to walkers, despite passionate appeals from farmers to keep the pathways closed. By the end of July the main incidences of the disease were restricted to North Yorkshire, Cumbria and mid Wales.

WEEK 13-14- 15 May to 28 May
One of the country's leading experts on Foot and Mouth disease questioned the validity of the culling strategy - 14,000 animals were slaughtered on a farm near Glasebury in Powys. There was a fresh outbreak of foot and mouth in a previously unaffected area of North Yorkshire where farmers accused the government of hiding the true extent of the outbreak in the region. A new case was also found in Wales.

WEEK 12- 8 May to 14 May
Representatives from rural tourism headed to London to protest against the Government's compensation packages. The Ministry of Agriculture raised the possibility that many animals may have been slaughtered needlessly.

WEEK 11- 1 May to 7 May
Tony Blair said the fight against foot and mouth disease was coming 'under control'. Meanwhile The English Tourism Council warned that as many as 250,000 jobs in the industry were at risk because of the effects of Foot and Mouth.

WEEK 10- 24 April to 30 April
The Government prepared to scale down its policy of culling livestock affected by Foot and Mouth. A survey of farmers with confirmed outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, gave the first indication of how the epidemic might affect the rural landscape.

WEEK 9- 17 April to 23 April
Devon vets wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture objecting to what they said was the "needless slaughter" of healthy cattle. Meanwhile the mass burning of animal carcasses was scaled down because of health concerns - Cumbrian officials were worried that there might be toxins in the smoke from the pyres.

WEEK 8- 11 April to 16 April
As calls for a vaccination policy to be implemented gathered strength, the Government dispatched its Ministers around the country to help the tourist industry over Easter. Meanwhile, the French Agriculture Minister complained that British vets were the "weak link" in fighting the disease.

WEEK 7- 4 April to 10 April
Michael Meacher's calls for a public inquiry appear to surprise Tony Blair. The government's chief scientific adviser, Professor David King, says that emergency measures to deal with Foot and Mouth are "starting to bite".

WEEK 6- 28 March to 3 April
The mass burial of carcasses begins in Cumbria. Meanwhile the investigation into where and why the foot and mouth crisis originated seemed to reach a conclusion, blaming it on pigswill. The elections are postponed.

WEEK 5- 21 March to 27 March
The number of foot-and-mouth cases now stands at 435. The Conservatives say the lessons of the last major outbreak in 1967 have not been learned - particularly the need to deploy the army quickly to contain the disease.

WEEK 4- 14 March to 20 March
The Government asks the Army to help prevent foot and mouth disease from spreading to more farms. Debate moves on to whether or not it would be appropriate to go ahead with scheduled local government elections (and a possible general election) on May 3.

WEEK 3- 7 March to 13 March
The Cheltenham National Hunt Festival is postponed. There are now 96 confirmed cases of foot and mouth. The editor of Country Life Magazine, Clive Aslett, wants a windfall tax on supermarkets for "all but destroying the local food infrastructure in Britain".

WEEK 2- 28 Feb to 6 March
The first compensation payments for farmers are agreed, but are they enough and are they being fairly distributed? As the disease spreads, the debate moves onto the future. Tony Blair adds his voice to the calls for a radical look at current farming practices in Britain.

WEEK 1- 21 Feb to 28 Feb
The Ministry of Agriculture confirms the first foot and mouth cases for twenty years. The Chief Veterinary Officer, Jim Scudamore, calls for people to stay away from the countryside. As new cases of foot and mouth are reported daily we speak to farmers in infected areas to find out how they are coping.