Settle could be next Cumbria

22 May 2001



Settle could be ‘next Cumbria’

By FWi staff

FEARS of a Cumbrian-scale foot-and-mouth outbreak in North Yorkshire and Lancashire are growing, report the morning newspapers.

A livestock movement ban was re-imposed on Tuesday (22 May) in the Settle and Clitheroe areas, and 25 extra vets drafted in, with another 35 prepared to join.

Fifteen new cases have been reported in the past 10 days, with many farmers claiming the true figure in the “Settle rectangle” is higher.

Reports suggest that some animals appear to have had the disease for weeks, leading to fears that it could have spread far and wide for weeks.

The new hotspot “threatened to swell into a repeat of the calamity which engulfed Cumbria” reported The Daily Telegraph.

The Guardian says the imposition of movements raises fears of a “Cumbria-scale” outbreak, where 705 of the UKs 1625 cases have occurred.

The Ministry of Agriculture has denied reports that the strain in the “Settle rectangle” is different to the one affecting other areas, reports The Telegraph.

This comes as the number of animals slaughtered or identified for slaughter to control the disease exceeds the three million mark.

MAFF reports that 3,050,000 animals slaughtered or identified for slaughter. Of these 2,972,000 have been slaughtered, while the ministry still has to dispose of 26,000 carcasses.

The slaughtered stock includes 462,000 cattle, 2,390,000 sheep, 118,000 pigs, 2000 goats.

Meanwhile, a team at Imperial College London has suggested that culling tactics have been “inefficient” on half the 7542 premises where stock were or are being culled.

Using a mathematical model, the researchers, led by Professor Roy Anderson, said half the culls outside infected premises were “probably not optimally efficient”.

• The Daily Telegraph, 22 May, 2001, page 1 and 13
  
• The Guardian, 22 May, 2001, page 7
  

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