Farmers blamed as epidemic spreads

9 April 2001



Farmers blamed as epidemic spreads

By Johann Tasker

AGRICULTURE minister Nick Brown has blamed farmers for spreading foot-and-mouth to areas of Britain previously free from the disease.

Livestock producers who illegally moved livestock from restricted areas were in danger of spreading the epidemic, he told MPs on Monday (9 April).

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Brown said he had appealed to farmers not to prolong the crisis by moving animals without licences.

“Some of the isolated cases that have appeared in recent days appear to be directly attributable to farm-to-farm transmission from infected areas.”

A new case of foot-and-mouth identified near Sorbie, Scotland, on Sunday (8 April) is more than 30 miles from the nearest outbreak area around Kircudbright.

Similarly, a case reported on the same day in sheep at Nelson near Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, is up to 30 miles from cases in Monmouthshire.

In England, a case near Whitby, north Yorkshire, is causing concern because it is about 40 miles away from the nearest outbreak.

Mr Browns comments came after Prime Minister Tony Blair summoned farm leaders to an emergency meeting in London.

National Farmers Union president Ben Gill was among industry representatives at the Downing Street meeting on Monday (9 April).

Mr Brown said: “Jointly the government and the NFU would make this call to farmers: there is a serious risk that illegal movements will spread the disease.”

Mr Gill said: “We understand that isolated cases are to be expected.

“We made it clear that all the stops must be pulled out where these occur to ensure that these isolated cases dont create new centres of concern.

Mr Gill said farmers in high-risk areas needed to be especially careful to take the necessary precautions to guard against the spread of the disease.

“We all want to see this country clear of the disease at the earliest opportunity. We must all, therefore, redouble our efforts.”

Shadow agriculture minister Tim Yeo paid tribute to people working to control the outbreak on the ground, including slaughtermen and vets.

But he criticised the Ministry of Agricultures failure to accurately update its website with statistics on foot-and-mouth on a daily basis.

“The suspicion has been that they may be concealing the fact that the situation is getting worse rather than better,” said Mr Yeo.