Ocotber 1, 2007

 

UK's Department of Agriculture grapples with bluetongue and FMD

 

 

The UK Department of Agriculture said it is "monitoring" the spread of disease in the British livestock industry following the emergence of new cases of foot and mouth and an outbreak of bluetongue.

 

The UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) last week confirmed that foot and mouth

was discovered on an eighth farm.

 

Ireland banned the importation of live animals from Britain in the middle of September. Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan has said that further measures may be imposed.

 

The present case, being near where the previous cases have been, meant that the same precautions would remain in place, said Michael Walsh, a spokesman for the department

 

Britain's livestock industry is already reeling from high feed costs and Foot and Mouth Disease concerns, on top of the bluetongue disease, which hit cattle recently.

 

In Britain, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) warned this weekend that the latest foot and mouth case, in Surrey, could have severe financial implications for the farming industry.

 

The industry has already incurred GBP 250 million in lost exports since the foot and mouth outbreak was confirmed in August, according to Anthony Gibson, a spokesman for the NFU.

 

Defra said cattle at four other farms close to the newest outbreak, near Wraysbury, would also be culled.

 

A Defra spokeswoman said a programme of "intense surveillance and blood testing" would continue to identify any further cases.

 

Padraig Walshe, president of the IFA, said news that there are now 11 confirmed cases of bluetongue in Britain was not unexpected, given the virulent nature of the disease.