foot and mouth is back on a farm in gilford

hope it stays there  its going to be a shame if it gets ot

lets hope its over as quick as it got here, not more fires like last time please

A repeat of 2001 doesn't bare thinking about. 

Yes, the BBC is reporting that cattle on a farm in Surrey have tested positive for foot and mouth. It is terrible news. We are gathering information to update the main FWi News pages as soon as it becomes available. If you have information you can share with us please get in touch - through the Forums here or by e-mail to our on-line editor julian.gairdner@rbi.co.uk  

Here's what DEFRA is saying:

"Following an investigation of suspected vesicular disease by Animal Health on a holding near Guildford in Surrey, laboratory results have this evening indicated that the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) virus is present in samples from cattle on the premises.

On the basis of the initial laboratory results Debby Reynolds, UK Chief Veterinary Officer has confirmed Foot and Mouth Disease. In accordance with the legislation and contingency planning arrangements all the cattle on the premises will be culled. A Protection Zone of three kilometres radius and a Surveillance Zone of 10 kilometres has been placed around the premises, and a GB wide national movement ban of all ruminants and pigs has been imposed.

Nationally no animal movements are allowed except under licence, controls are in place on movement of animal carcasses, animal gatherings, shearing and dipping are restricted, and all farms must increase levels of biosecurity.  In both the Protection and Surveillance Zones, there will be requirements for increased levels of biosecurity on farms, movement controls, controls on transportation of dung/manure and treatment of animal products to ensure destruction of the FMD virus. 

The farm itself has been under restrictions since late on Thursday evening when symptoms were reported to the local Animal Health office. A 1km temporary restriction zone was placed around the premises earlier today whilst investigations and testing were completed, in line with domestic and EU legislation.

The European Commission has been informed."

 

And for anyone who hasn't come through the main FWi site here is what we know at moment:

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2007/08/03/105707/foot-and-mouth-disease-confirmed-on-surrey-farm-in-uk.html

 

Defra has initial info on the outbreak on its web-site:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/

(includes map)

Looks like the infected premises is somewhere around a place called Flexford which is about halfway between Farnborough and Guilford. I'm not a conspiracy theorist (I was part of a team at FW that investigated lots of theories about F&M in 2001 and most came to nothing) but I am sure people will notice that it is pretty close to Pirbright where they do lots of research into infectious diseases.

Your right, its all a bit scarey.  Brings back memories of a difficult time.  Heres hoping its contained.

yes, like five minuites away from the animal health lab ? to many questions were not given satisfactory answers in 2001.

Here's an aerial pic of the affected location, according to grid references given.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.248217&lon=-0.676396&z=16.6&r=0&src=msl

 

Defra seems to be quick out of the blocks this time, and so it should be. But are the animals on the farm between Aldershot and Guildford slaughtered yet? This disease can spread so easily, infected animals should be culled as soon as possible to prevent spread. Yes, movement restrictions are in place. That means no movements anywhere, which is going to be a major headache for anyone with animals already at shows, recently arrived from sales (eg Thame - 20,000 sheep sold Friday) etc etc. The implications are very severe indeed, even if no further outbreaks occur, which let us hope and pray they are not. Trade will be impacted immediately and rural tourism is vulnerable. It is in everyone's interests to work together and be vigilant. If you aren't exactly sure about any aspect of foot and mouth, Defra's web-site has good guidance at http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth A particularly good source of information is a document at http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/pdf/factsheet3.pdf
Just published: A General Licence has been issued to allow the movement of cows along a public highway for milking purposes - this licence allows movements of cows along a public highway from one part of a premises to another part of the same premises, for the purposes of milking only.
We shall endeavour to keep you fully briefed on our main news pages.

According to BBC News 24, the cattle have now been culled.  Lets hope thats the end,.

Two interesting snippets I've got from DEFRA site:

a) The role of vaccination is bound to be higher up the agenda than the last time. Here's a  link to a document that tries to explain when it might be used (there is vaccine in stock), http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/pdf/vaccinationscenarios.pdf

b) A whole month ago - 4 July 2007 - DEFRA published three FMD factsheets giving information on how to spot FMD, prevent the introduction and spread of FMD and what will happen when FMD is suspected or confirmed. Probably a coincidence but I bet people will wonder. 

Noticed the new factsheets were issued a month since and passed comment!!  Lots of strange coincidences in 2001 too.  Surely not again. 

Last time MAFF dealt with foot and mouth appalingly - so much so they had to change there name to DEFRA. The scenes shown on TV were unforgivable - we cannot have a repeat of 2001. I'm glad the government is taking this seriously. Lets all pray that this is an isolated incident

Are you aware that the foot and mouth infected farm is next door to the animal virus research center at Pirbright and that a job is currently advertised for a laboratory technician in foot and mouth research??
In addition two major slaughter houses exist within the surveillance zone at Farnborough and Guildford!

Its going to be a miracle if it hasn't got out already

Isabel,

Remember what a mess they made last time and the Dutch showed them how to control it by Vaccination and Slaughter.I bet the First world War Generals will have another go with their Slaughter Policy.Cost an absolute fortune before,lets see if the Bigots win this time.

Very sad. The saddest thing for me is that they may not have learnt any lessons from before & this is a big worry IMO 

What a tragedy. Of course, we're right in the middle of the show season which for many breeders is their shop window. Many show organisers have been wringing their hands about the weather, now the loss of livestock classes will be a double whammy. I hope this outbreak has been nipped, but i fear that we can wave goodbye to the rest of the show season.

 

have just had a text message from a friend who lives in pirbright, she says there is lots of activity in the area, most worrying of all she says helicopters in and out of the exclusion zone, well that is realy helpfull,we all know on the disease front nothing spreads disease/infection quicker than flies, so bring on DEFRA they know how to really speed things up with mechanical flies  !!!!!!!

Another interesting coincidence from 2001 is that this area has a high level of military bases. I appreciate the the infection came from swill last time but I wonder where they've been sourcing their meat products?

I just cant believe this partly because I had an SFP appeal hearing last week, the sad sorry business of 2001 was raked over in agonizing detail (brother lost all his stock and we v nearly went bust) I consoled myself with the thought that it was all in the past. I have heartfelt sympathy for those in Surrey and all those who have the painful memories of 2001 dragged up.

The import of cheap third world meat is almost certainly behind this, the Irish clearly showed the shortcomings of biosecurity and traceability just a few weeks ago, nothing was done.

 

we had a RPA inspection not long ago. neither of the inspectors wore wellies, or water proof trousers, but still tramped all over this stock farm.

can walking boots be properly disinfected?

i should have said something but was afraid too. Upset them and they can almost bankrupt you with the stroke of a pen!

 

Isabel.

Can somebody tell me why on earth we are not able to use vaccination in the country like almost all other civilised countries do??? During the last outbreak I asked this question of the NFU  HQ livestock specialists and of the Min of Ag. but neither body could give me an answer. Surely it is commonsence to use such a vaccine particularly when it is widely used in both the Argentine and Brazil where much of our poor quality supermarket beef is from. Perhaps if we banned all imports from those countries  where F/M is endemic then maybe that would be a positive measure to prevent future outbreaks of this disruptive disease.

I would apreciate an answer to my question as to why we are not now vaccinating the area around this outbreak to prevent the horrendous suffering of wholesale slaughter being carried out again by the loonies who pretend to run our country.

Dick