By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters)
- Britain Thursday warned the public to stay away from the countryside
to prevent the spread of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak which
has led to a world ban on exports of British livestock and animal
products.
Britain's
Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said it was urgent the government
swiftly got control of a disease which has sparked alarm across
the world since its discovery Tuesday.
``This is
absolutely terrible. We have got to get on top of this as quickly
as we can and get back to our disease free status which the United
Kingdom has enjoyed for decades and get back to normal trade,''
Brown told Sky News.
``We need
to trace every single movement into the abattoir where this was
discovered, to check every farm and if there's any suspicion that
there is foot-and-mouth present, the farm has to be quarantined.
``I know these
restrictions are harsh but it is absolutely necessary to get this
disease under control.''
The National
Farmers Union said it was advising the public not to head to the
countryside in case they inadvertently spread the disease.
``Walkers
have to take a lot of responsibility and farmers do not want them
walking aimlessly around the countryside,'' an NFU spokeswoman
told Reuters.
``People should
stay away. Because it is an airborne disease it so easily spread
on clothing.''
Characterized
by the development of blisters in the mouths and on the feet of
cloven hoofed animals, the disease can be fatal to animals. It
is harmless to humans.
The disease
has been recorded in Europe over the past decade, and is widespread
in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and parts of South America.
``This outbreak
has potentially catastrophic implications for the whole of the
British livestock industry,'' said Ben Gill, president of the
National Farmers' Union.
``British
farmers have had more than enough to deal with in the last few
years without this latest blow,'' he said.
The foot-and-mouth
blow struck just as Britain's beef sector had all but recovered
last year from its mad cow crisis with consumption rising by four
percent over 1999 to reach 955,000 tons.
Restriction
Zone Extended Officials have extended movement restriction zone
around the abattoir near Brentwood, in southeast England, where
the disease was found in 28 pigs Tuesday, to 10 miles in a bid
to ensure the disease was contained.
Another farm
in the southwest English county of Gloucestershire is also under
investigation while farms in the southern English county of Buckinghamshire,
Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight, off England's southern
coast, where some of the animals came from, have been put under
movement restrictions.
Ireland's
Department of Agriculture said it was investigating a lorry in
County Cavan amid concerns it could have been contaminated with
the disease.
The lorry
crossed into Cavan, near the border with Northern Ireland, from
the north, having made a delivery to the British abattoir where
the outbreak was first found.
Britain has
effectively put itself in quarantine by banning exports of live
animals and products, and farmers' leaders warned that their industry
faced catastrophe if the disease wasn't stamped out quickly.
News of the
outbreak led the European Union (news - web sites), the United
States, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Ireland as
well as other countries to announce crackdowns on British livestock
and animal imports.
Australia,
one of the few foot and mouth disease-free nations in the world,
also even tightened already-stringent controls on the entry of
human passengers from Britain, focusing on what they bring with
them and any pre-travel farm visits.
Experts say
foot-and-mouth is a disease that knows no boundaries as it can
be spread through the air or transmitted through urine, milk,
semen and saliva.
``If this
gets a hold there are going to be very firm restrictions in place
indeed which is why we are acting as promptly as we are and as
thoroughly as we are to try and get it under control,'' Brown
said.
British agriculture
and health officials said foot-and-mouth disease, which affects
pigs, cattle, sheep and goats, rarely endangered people.
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