The slaughter of up to one million healthy British animals in areas with foot and mouth disease is the only way to fight the UK outbreak, according to a leading veterinary scientist.
鈥淭here are bound to be ongoing successive outbreaks as new susceptible animals become exposed to the virus,鈥� says Chris Bostock, director of the Institute of Animal Health in Berkshire. 鈥淭he only way to get on top of it is to cull both the infected and the susceptible animals.鈥�
The UK government has announced plans to cull all sheep and pigs within three kilometres of infected farms in two of the worst hit areas, Cumbria and south-west Scotland. 鈥淭he disease has moved very quickly, which is why we are adopting this approach,鈥� agriculture minister Nick Brown told the BBC.
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On Friday, the number of confirmed cases of foot and mouth in the UK rose to 256. About 162,000 pigs, cattle and sheep which were suspected of having been exposed to infected animals have already been slaughtered in Britain.
Dispersal problem
Bostock says that the new cull results from the extensive local sheep trading in Cumbria and south-west Scotland, before the first case was diagnosed in February.
鈥淭here have been a number of movements of sheep that have disseminated infected animals quite widely in those localised areas,鈥� he told 快猫短视频. 鈥淪heep are particularly difficult because they have fairly mild clinical signs and recover, but they are still a source of infection for other animals.鈥�
Pigs will also be slaughtered because, when infected, these animals shed much higher numbers of viral particles than sheep or cattle. 鈥淚f pigs get infected, they鈥檙e a major risk for airborne spread of the virus,鈥� says Bostock.
Cattle will be exempt from the cull. Symptoms of foot and mouth in cattle are relatively easy to spot, so checking that a farm holds only healthy cattle will be much simpler.
Bostock says calls for vaccinations of animals, rather than widespread culling, are impractical. It would take a minimum of two weeks before animals began to become immune, he says.
Ben Gill, president of Britain鈥檚 National Farmers Union, says the new measures are 鈥渢ough but terrible鈥�.
鈥淭here will be many tears around the British countryside today,鈥� he told The Guardian newspaper. 鈥淥ur farms should be starting to jump with life with new-born lambs and calves. Instead, many will feel that spring has been cancelled and their farms are simply 鈥榙ead鈥�.鈥�
About 90 countries have now banned imports of meat or livestock from the European Union. Cases of foot and mouth have also been confirmed in France and across mainland Europe tens of thousands of animals have been slaughtered as a precaution.
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