Three new foot-and-mouth cases
26 February 2001
Three new foot-and-mouth cases
By FWi staff
FOOT-AND-MOUTH disease has been confirmed at another three sites, increasing fears that it has spread throughout the country and on to the Continent.
Outbreaks have been confirmed at an abattoir at Bromham, in west Wiltshire, and at a farm in Hatherleigh, Devon.
And another new case has been confirmed at a farm in Westerhope, Northumberland, reports the Ananova website.
This brings the total number of outbreaks to ten.
Chief veterinary officer Jim Scudamore told BBC Online that the Brougham and Hatherleigh cases were linked to an outbreak at an exporting farm in Highampton, Devon.
Sheep bought in the area of Northumberland foot-and-mouth disease had been transported 400 miles to Burdon Farm in Highampton.
Restriction zones have been put up around the sites at Hatherleigh and Bromham.
These new outbreaks have dashed hopes that infection had been limited by movement ban and a mass slaughter.
Agriculture Minister Nick Brown told the BBC: “It is developing very quickly. Now is the time we would expect to find further outbreaks.”
On Monday (26 February) tests were still being carried out at an abattoir in Anglesey, North Wales.
Meanwhile, European countries have launched emergency measures in a bid to keep the disease from their livestock.
The Netherlands has slaughtered some newly-imported British animals, and Germany has imposed quarantines on several farms with British livestock.
The sheep taken to Burdon Farm, Highampton, were purchased from Hexham livestock market in Northumberland on 13 February.
They were transported 10 days before livestock movements were banned by the Government on 23 February in a bid to stop foot-and-mouth disease spreading.
The animals were kept in lairage for two days in close quarters with other livestock before being moved on to Longtown, Carlisle, Cumbria.
Longtown market is one of the countrys biggest centres for selling sheep and serves farmers in Scotland as well as the north of England.
From Longtown, the sheep were taken to Highampton.
the length of the journey and the fact that the sheep were in close contact with other animals, raises the possibility that more foot-and-mouth cases will be found.