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By Stephen Pincock
LONDON
(Reuters Health) - The intense media attention generated by three suspected cases
of human foot-and-mouth disease in the UK could well spur even more potential
cases to be referred to the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS), a spokesperson
said Wednesday.
"There is obviously a lot of interest around, and similar
symptoms can be caused by other...much more common diseases, so it won't be altogether
surprising" if all the attention makes doctors more likely to refer suspected
cases to the service, the spokesperson said.
Health officials are investigating
a further two cases of human infection just 24 hours after a slaughterhouse worker
who was sprayed with the entrails from a burst animal carcass became the first
publicly announced suspected victim of the disease in 34 years. The three cases
have drawn screaming front-page headlines in Britain's newspapers and raised fears
that the cases could harm tourism.
Since the outbreak began, nine suspected
cases had been reported to the PHLS, although only the most recent three have
been drawn to public attention. None of the first six were found to have foot-and-mouth
disease, although all "probably" had symptoms such as blisters on the feet and
hands, according to the PHLS spokesperson. Foot-and-mouth is no more serious in
humans than in animals. It is not fatal, and symptoms resemble those of mild flu.
There is no evidence the disease can be passed from person to person.
The
results of testing for the first case should be available early next week, with
the other two cases following days after.
Speculation that the disease
may have spread to more humans overshadowed news that the pace of disease spread
among livestock is easing. Some 2.2 million cattle, sheep, pigs and goats of a
total stock population of 55 million have been slaughtered or were due to be culled
since the outbreak began.
The Department of Agriculture said new outbreaks
were slowing, with a daily average of 16 new cases in the 7 days to April 22,
compared to 27 in the previous 7-day period.
The British Tourist Board
said suspected human cases are "obviously not good news" but said it would continue
to reassure visitors that the risk to them is minimal. |
