Foot-and-mouth threat to march
22 February 2001
Foot-and-mouth threat to march
By Alistair Driver
THE Countryside March, expected to attract 300,000 rural people to London next month, is under threat because of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
March organisers are seeking advice from public health authorities about the dangers of spreading the disease by holding the event in London on 18 March.
Foot-and-mouth is highly contagious. Some people fear that farmers attending the march could spread the disease and then take it back to their farms.
But Countryside Alliance spokesman Nigel Henson was keen to play down fears that the event – due in three weeks time – could be cancelled altogether.
“It is far too early to say either way yet. At this stage we have received no advice that we should call off the march,” he said.
The London event would not be threatened so long as the disease was contained within one area, as currently appears to be the case, said Mr Henson.
However, people could be prevented from attending by government movement restrictions in place around disease outbreaks, he conceded.
“But this is very different from saying the whole event is under threat.”
Any escalation of foot-and-mouth disease across Britain is certain to raise questions over the risks associated with the London march.
The highly contagious virus can be rapidly transmitted among livestock through humans and vehicles that come into contact with it.
The National Farmers Union has already urged city people to stay away from rural areas, warning that foot-and-mouth can travel 150 miles in the air.
The Ministry of Agriculture has asked farmers in the vicinity of the Essex abattoir at the centre of the outbreak to limit their movements.
Other organisations are also taking precautions.
The Ramblers Association has warned walkers in Essex, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire and the Isle of Wight, to take extra precautions.
The association told its members that MAFF may prohibit use of footpaths in areas where the disease has been identified or is suspected.
Meanwhile, race-goers are worried that meetings at Cheltenham and the Grand National meeting at Aintree, could be affected.
Racing was wiped out for almost two months during the 1967 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, which resulted in the destruction of more than 440,000 animals.
- Foot-and-mouth – news update
- The Countryside March – Sunday 18 March, 2001
- Rural rides to the Countryside March – click here