DEFRA eases movement restrictions

DEFRA has announced the further easing of foot and mouth disease movement restrictions in England. General licences are now available for limited movements, with stringent conditions, outside of the Surveillance Zone.

These allow:

• Pigs to be moved from breeding units to grower units and to finishing units to address current and anticipated welfare issues.
• Animals susceptible to foot and mouth disease to be moved up to 3 km between premises under the same occupation, or along and across a road, for any reason.
• Cows for calving and cows with their calves to be moved up to 50 km between premises under the same occupation.

All of these movements are subject to following strict biosecurity measures and complying with all of the licence conditions. Pig movements are also subject to certification by a veterinary surgeon. The national movement ban remains in place.

DEFRA have also confirmed that laboratory results show that the virus found at Infected Premises 5 (IP5) is the strain 01 BFS 67. This means all five IP’s have the same strain of virus. A full epidemiological investigation is ongoing.