THE vets struggling to contain Britain鈥檚 worst outbreak of foot and mouth
disease for decades have sent out a grim warning to livestock farmers
everywhere.
They say that the virus causing foot and mouth disease in Britain is a new,
virulent strain that is sweeping the globe. Outbreaks could happen any time, in
any country. Some vets fear that a relaxation of import controls within the
European Union has helped the virus to spread.
It only takes one infected animal to trigger an outbreak, or one meat or
dairy product from a country that has failed to contain the disease. The virus
infects hoofed animals, causing painful mouth and foot blisters which lead to
lameness and loss of appetite. Viruses spread from burst blisters, and as few as
10 are enough to infect a cow.
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鈥淚t can pop up any time,鈥� says Paul Kitching, head of the world鈥檚 leading
reference lab for tracking the disease, at the Institute for Animal Health in
Pirbright, Surrey.
Britain鈥檚 crisis is the latest triggered by a particularly infectious strain
of the virus. The 鈥淧an-Asian topotype鈥� is a variant of the 鈥淥鈥� strain. First
discovered in India in 1990, it spread westwards through the Arabian peninsula,
reaching Europe in 1996. It also travelled eastwards to Mongolia. There have
recently been outbreaks in countries that had been free of the disease for a
long time, such as South Korea, Japan and South Africa.
鈥淚t鈥檚 spreading quite dramatically,鈥� says Kitching. 鈥淭his strain has replaced
all the others.鈥� It is particularly dangerous, he says, because it infects an
unusually large range of hoofed animals. Even exotic species such as rare
Asiatic camels succumb.
The strain is now endemic in many countries in the Middle East and Asia. 鈥淎nd
there are probably many more countries that are affected, but haven鈥檛 bothered
to report it,鈥� says Alex Donaldson, head of the Institute of Animal Health.
The British outbreak began at a pig fattening farm just outside Newcastle.
According to Donaldson, the most likely origin of the virus was infected
swill鈥攚aste food from hotels and restaurants fed to the pigs. 鈥淎 meat
product from the Far East could have been the source,鈥� he says. Swill is
supposed to be heat-treated to kill viruses, Donaldson says. 鈥淚f swill feeders
comply with their licences, there shouldn鈥檛 be a problem.鈥�
Prophetically, worries about a rise in illegal imports of potentially
contaminated meat surfaced in December during a meeting at the Central
Veterinary Laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey. An official from the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food revealed, for example, that officials at
London鈥檚 Heathrow Airport had recently impounded an illegal consignment of 50
tonnes of beef from Asia.
Trevor Drew, head of the laboratory鈥檚 mammalian virology unit, warned that
illegally imported exotic meat is often found on street markets. Drew told
快猫短视频 this week that his evidence is anecdotal. But he believes
more illegal imported meat from outside Europe may have been arriving in Britain
since border controls within the EU were relaxed in 1993.
Now animals and animal products only need to be checked when they enter the
EU. Once inside, they can be moved around freely if they have the correct
paperwork.
鈥淚t cannot help the situation to have a relaxation in formal controls,鈥� says
Drew. 鈥淚f customs officials don鈥檛 have a suspicion about imported goods, the
paperwork鈥檚 in order and the import comes ostensibly from a European source,
it鈥檚 likely to go through,鈥� he says. 鈥淐ountries such as the US, Australia and
New Zealand have much more stringent controls than ourselves,鈥� he says.
As well as illegal imports, tourists bringing back food could spread the
disease, as could people in affected countries who send food to relatives in the
EU, Donaldson says. People aren鈥檛 allowed to import dairy products at all, and
only fully cooked meat is supposed to be brought in.
But a spokesman for Britain鈥檚 customs service says that it has no powers to
detain or seize suspect agricultural products at airports and ports. Inspectors
focus on immigrants and illegal drugs, he says. The job of checking farm
products falls to the State Veterinary Service, but they only check meat from
outside the EU.
