Swine fever fallout may hit 1000 farms
14 August 2000
Swine fever fallout may hit 1000 farms
by Alistair Driver
ABOUT 1000 farmers could be left with virtually worthless pigs as a result of the classical swine fever outbreak in East Anglia, an industry expert has claimed.
Mike Sheldon, chief executive of the National Pig Association, said that up to 1000 East Anglian pig farmers were in restricted zones because of the disease.
“They danger is that once they finally get their pigs slaughtered they may find themselves with meat worth virtually nothing,” he said.
“Either the pigs will be too old or there may be no market for them.”
A sixth suspected outbreak of swine fever is expected to be confirmed shortly by Ministry of Agriculture officials on a 1000-pig Norfolk unit.
Five outbreaks of the disease were earlier confirmed by MAFF officials on separate farms in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
Two of those farms, including a 2600-pig unit in Suffolk and a 900-pig unit in Norfolk, are nursery units operated by BQP, the UKs biggest pig producer.
The units are supplied by the same breeding farm at Quidenham, Norfolk, which was confirmed as having classical swine fever last week.
MAFF is also testing pigs on two other BQP nursery units supplied by the farm and eight finishing units supplied by the nursery units.
Under MAFF rules, farmers within a 3km radius of the confirmed outbreaks have been banned from moving pigs for at least three weeks.
A wider surveillance zone – of about 10km radius – has been imposed around each outbreak within which all movement of pigs is banned for seven days.
After that, pigs can be moved only if given the all-clear by MAFF vets. The animals can only be processed under strict conditions in dedicated abattoirs.
- Malton refuses East Anglian pigs, FWi, 11 August 2000
- Young couple face pig cull misery, FWi, 11 August 2000
- Swine fever cull on six new farms, FWi, 11 August 2000