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3 Oct 2014

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Foot and Mouth Outbreak -
WEEK 13 - 14
Some Facts
  • 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
Day 92 - May 23
More vets are being sent in to North Yorkshire to tackle the new outbreak of foot and mouth - seventeen cases have been reported close to Settle. There's also a new case in Wales where a farm near Glasebury in Powys and is having 14,000 animals slaughtered today under the contiguous culling policy.

Day 91 - May 22
There's been a fresh outbreak of foot and mouth in a previously unaffected area of North Yorkshire. Parts of Lancashire have also been affected. There are fears in the area that it could become a "new Cumbria". Farmers have accused the government of hiding the true extent of the outbreak in the region, but it's thought that between 50 and 100 farms could be affected. The official increase in the foot and mouth figures yesterday was four.

Day 85 - May 16
One of the country's leading experts on Foot and Mouth Disease has questioned the validity of the culling strategy. Dr Alex Donaldson, who heads the Purbright Laboratory at the Institute for Animal Health, argues that the risk posed by infected animals has been over-estimated. He told our Environment correspondent Tom Feilden that the statistical models used to justify the contiguous cull of animals on farms surrounding outbreaks of the disease were over-simplified and inaccurate.

Day 84 - May 15
The daily toll of new cases is falling steadily towards zero. But at what cost? It's becoming increasingly clear that the price - in terms of slaughtered livestock and lost livelihoods for farmers - is mounting. So is the policy now being driven more by political concerns - over the timing of the election - than sound science? Our Environment correspondent Tom Feilden reported on an alarming rise in the proportion of healthy animals being caught up in efforts to eradicate the disease.

Back to Foot and Mouth Index

LINKS
- news.bbc.co.uk
- www.defra.gov.uk

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Listen - Day 92 - The slaughter goes on.
Listen - Day 91 - Foot and Mouth hotspot in North Yorkshire.
Carcasses awaiting destruction
Listen - Day 85 - Dr Alex Donaldson questions Foot and Mouth slaughter policy
Listen - Day 84 - Are party political concerns dictating Foot and Mouth policy - chief vet
Other Stories


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