A ban on feeding of swill to pigs was proposed today by the UK鈥檚 agriculture minister, as the foot and mouth epidemic rages on.
鈥淚 have concluded that the potential risk . . . is now greater than the benefits,鈥� Nick Brown, Britain鈥檚 agriculture minister, told parliament this afternoon. Such a proposal was anticipated by 快猫短视频 on 14 March (link).
Brown affirmed the widespread suspicion that the UK鈥檚 month-long epidemic of foot and mouth disease began when pigs ate infected swill on a farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland. 鈥淲e believe it was the original source of the outbreak,鈥� he said.
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Brown also signalled a significant softening in the government鈥檚 opposition to vaccination as a means of controlling the disease. He told MPs that although vaccination is still only under consideration, the government is to ask Brussels for permission to use vaccine jabs if it so chooses.
鈥淭he government is considering but has not yet decided whether a vaccine policy would help us,鈥� Brown told MPs. The number of outbreaks reached 668 on Tuesday.
Unpalatable medicine
Earlier, Prime Minister Tony Blair had also hinted that the government may at last consider vaccinating animals. 鈥淎s you track the disease and see how it spreads, things that may have seemed utterly unpalatable a short time ago have to be on the agenda,鈥� he said.
But vaccination, if used at all, is unlikely to be used across the country. This strategy would massively delay the reopening of export markets. Vaccination is more likely to be used to damp down areas of high infectivity and to erect virus-free 鈥渇irewalls鈥� around new outbreaks. All infected animals would ultimately be slaughtered, allowing a rapid return to the UK鈥檚 virus-free status.
Argentina is also in the grip of a foot and mouth epidemic and has ruled out mass slaughter as a control measure. It says this would be too expensive and has embarked on a vaccination programme in the 78 affected areas.
Slow down
Brown also proposed new laws to prevent rapid dispersal of newly purchased livestock around the country, along with any undetected viruses they may be carrying. Farmers would have to hold them for at least 20 days before selling them on, giving time for vets to halt further movements if diseased animals are discovered.
Brown said that one of the key features distinguishing the current epidemic from the previous one in 1967 is the speed with which the sale of sheep spread the virus before the alarm was raised.
鈥淲ithin days, at a time when we were still unaware of the disease, infected sheep were criss-crossing the country in hundreds of separate movements, putting them in contact with other livestock,鈥� said Brown.
Illegal imports?
Brown refused to comment on reports in the UK media that the virus arrived in meat smuggled to Britain from the Far East. The Times and Guardian newspapers suggest that the meat was destined for a Chinese restaurant in the North East, the same region where the epidemic started.
鈥淓pidemiological and other investigations continue,鈥� said Brown. 鈥淭he House will understand if I do not comment on the specifics of the case.鈥�
Swill is a concoction of food waste collected from restaurants, schools and other catering establishments. Only 80 people in Britain are licensed to process swill and by law, they must heat-treat it to kill viruses and other microbes. It is fed to pigs by just 100 of Britain鈥檚 9000 pig farmers, little more than one per cent.
Swill was also identified as the cause of a UK outbreak of classical swine fever in pigs in 2000. The government has now decided that the risks from swill-feeding are no longer worth taking.
Related stories:
UK epidemic may become eight times greater (23/03/01)
Dutch pledge to vaccinate vulnerable animals (22/03/01)
Radical disposal method for slaughtered animals 鈥� napalm (21/03/01)
Virus spreads to the Netherlands (21/03/01)
Healthy animals join the cull (16/03/01)
Virus emigrates to Europe (14/03/01)
New vaccine could one day prevent slaughter (28/02/01)
Europe joins the slaughter (28/02/ 01)
Mass slaughter inevitable in UK (23/02/01)