Foot and Mouth

[pammy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6930684.stm

Terrible news. As if there hasn't been and still isn't enough to cope with. Fingers' crossed it's contained.

 

[Rose Chap]

I completely agree with Pammy.

Farmers are beleaguered enough in this country without this. I really hope this outbreak is contained quickly and efficiently.

 

[R2e]

And as yet nobody's bringing up the contentious subject of vaccination. Better seemingly to kill thousands of animals and burn them...........

 

[Benzowner]

I also hope it is contained, problem is, by the time the disease is diagnosed, movement of people and cattle has already occured. I do hope it is isolated though

 

[Dieselman]

I'm just packing the Wife into the car to see if they can deal with her as well..

 

[scumbag]

I'm just packing the Wife into the car to see if they can deal with her as well..

Is that Foot In Mouth she has? Terrible when a women gets that, they should be put down on sight really.

 

[Mr E]

And as yet nobody's bringing up the contentious subject of vaccination. Better seemingly to kill thousands of animals and burn them...........

It all depends on the strain of virus, etc, which has to be first identified (which is hopefully later today). There are a number of ringfence categories that will be protected in the first instance (rare breeds, etc). There are side effects to the vaccination - one of which is knocking the animal out of the foodchain for quite a while - which is the reason behind the "wait-and-see" approach (balance between the economics of having to maintain livestock while they can't be utilised vs cost of culling / compensation / restocking).

Got a mate just inside the 10km zone - only a small affair but doesn't stop him bricking himself. His survival is not soley based on farm output, but this will probably restrict the "visitors" that do pay his way.

 

[R2e]

It all depends on the strain of virus, etc, which has to be first identified (which is hopefully later today). There are a number of ringfence categories that will be protected in the first instance (rare breeds, etc). There are side effects to the vaccination - one of which is knocking the animal out of the foodchain for quite a while - which is the reason behind the "wait-and-see" approach (balance between the economics of having to maintain livestock while they can't be utilised vs cost of culling / compensation / restocking).

Got a mate just inside the 10km zone - only a small affair but doesn't stop him bricking himself. His survival is not soley based on farm output, but this will probably restrict the "visitors" that do pay his way.

I suppose it all has to come down to economics in the end..........

What is the danger in eating cattle/sheep/pigs that have been vaccinated? ie, why are they out of the foodchain for a while? If I remember correctly from the last time, there are countries (Netherlands?) who vaccinate their livestock.

I feel for your mate, this must be a nightmare.

 

[grober]

AGRICULTURAL SHOWS under threat also.

The official site http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/ There is another "victim " of this outbreak directly affected by the national ban on movement of animals. At this time of year there are many agricultural shows which have "best of breed" animal showing competitions as a core activity. Needless to say these will not now take place and may threaten the economic viability of future events which are often run by enthusiasts who volunteer their services for free.

 

[masqueraid]

Possibility that this is a strain from a local research station

 

[grober]

Oops!

Possibility that this is a strain from a local research station

This is one time when the phrase "The sh*t has hit the fan" may actually be taken literally .
Fortunately this may mean the outbreak will be localised -let's hope so.

 

[Colin_b]

Here in west Cumbria, a lot of people (not just farmers, the holiday industry, such as it is, as well), have just got sorted after the 2001 outbreak. They are rather hoping it will be better controlled this time...

Colin.

 

[GazCaff]

Possibility that this is a strain from a local research station

In a way I'm glad it is being linked to this lab. When I heard the news I thought the economic/environmental terrorists had struck again!