Thousands
of pigs are to be slaughtered after the first outbreak of classical
swine fever in Britain for 14 years.
The disease
was confirmed by MAFF vets at a pig farm in Suffolk and all 3,500
pigs there are to be slaughtered and their carcasses destroyed.
The cause of the outbreak has yet to be confirmed.
The infected
pigs were supplied to the Suffolk farm by a breeding unit in Norfolk
which has also sent pigs to a farm in Essex.
No pigs are
being allowed on or off the Suffolk farm and movement restrictions
have also been imposed on the Norfolk and Essex sites, where pigs
are being tested for the viral disease.
All pigs
that have entered or left the Suffolk farm recently are being
traced and inspected and a protection zone of 3km has been placed
around the farm in which any movement of pigs is not allowed.
Other pig farms near the infected farm in Suffolk are also being
inspected by MAFF vets.
The disease
cannot spread to humans and the Food Standards Agency says the
outbreak poses no risk to consumers.
Britain's
last outbreak of classical swine fever was in 1986 but there was
a major outbreak in 1998 in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and
Belgium.
A MAFF spokeswoman
said if infected pigs have already moved from the infected farm
in Suffolk, which is a nursery unit, to other farms then more
pigs will be slaughtered. Slaughter of pigs on farms infected
with classical swine fever is required by EU law. Farmers receive
compensation.
Mike Sheldon,
chief executive of the National Pig Association said: "This
is terrible, it's the worst news we have had for a long time."
He said it
was a worry that countries outside the EU could use the outbreak
as an excuse to ban British pig products.
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