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

Day 21, 13th March
The Government asks the Army to help prevent foot and mouth disease from spreading to more farms. Today has learned that soldiers may be needed to destroy animals on open land in infected areas. Nick Brown tells us 'we have it under control' but admits because of the nature of the virus, there's only so much politicians can do. The request from MAFF -- the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food -- is being seen as a reflection of the growing seriousness of the outbreak. The Prime Minister is to meet farmers' leaders and representatives of the tourist industry and rural business who've been hit by the foot and mouth crisis.

Day 20
Farmers are bracing themselves for further cases of foot and mouth disease, with signs that the virus is continuing to spread. The largest daily rise in the number of cases of foot and mouth was announced over the weekend. The numbers went up by 25 to 164. The National Farmers Union believes the next few days could see a further increase in the rate of infection with the virus spreading to more counties across the UK. Farmers are annoyed that racing is still going ahead and there are calls for meetings to be cancelled.

Day 16
The Cheltenham National Hunt Festival has been postponed. There are now 96 confirmed cases of foot and mouth. The crisis has focused attention on how frequently animals are moved about these days, often when they are sent to market. So do we need livestock markets anymore? Richard Young, an organic farmer says there are alternatives but Peter Kingwill chairman of the Livestock Auctioneers' Association disagrees.

Day 15
The foot and mouth epidemic has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of farm animals over the past two weeks. Now the editor of Country Life Magazine, Clive Aslett, wants a windfall tax on supermarkets for "all but destroying the local food infrastructure in Britain". Christine Watts, Head of Corporate Affairs at ASDA disagrees. Meanwhile some of the pet animals at Alton Towers Theme Park have been slaughtered - though none actually had foot and mouth. Emma Titchner from Alton Towers defends her company's actions.