ABC News Online
Britain's
agriculture ministry has confirmed a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on
a farm in Devon, in south-west England.
The latest case brings of officially
confirmed outbreaks of the highly contagious disease in Britain to seven, in the
latest blow to an industry still suffering the impact of the mad cow disease crisis.
On the weekend, workers killed thousands of pigs on farms where the presence
of foot-and-mouth has been confirmed or is suspected.
The British countryside
has become a virtual quarantine area with horse races temporarily banned, and
zoos and nature reserves closed to limit the risk of the disease being spread
to other animals.
British agriculture authorities have slapped a temporary
ban on livestock movements, closed cattle markets and barred hunting in a bid
to halt the spread of the disease.
Tougher restrictions have been also
been put on the import of animal feed.
Belgium and Ireland have closed
their livestock markets as a precaution against contagion from the British foot-and-mouth
outbreak.
European Union farm ministers meet this week to discuss what
is seen as a growing agricultural crisis.
The situation is changing so
rapidly that Britain's Agriculture Minister Nick Brown is involved in daily briefings.
"Because of the short incubation period for this strain of virus, we believe
if there are to be further outbreaks on farms, we should be hearing about it either
overnight, yesterday or today," he said.
British farmers are set to lose
millions of dollars due to the shutdown of livestock sales and they say they are
hoping that the restriction will not need to be extended.
And British supermarkets
are warning that their stocks of lamb, beef and pork will only last a few days.
Foot-and-mouth
disease is not highly dangerous to humans but spreads very rapidly and easily
among all ruminants - cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. |
