Foot & Mouth Outbreak Again

maniac101

Oh dear, here we go again!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6930684.stm

Farm infected with foot-and-mouth
Burning of carcasses during the foot-and-mouth crisis
Foot-and-mouth caused havoc in the UK in 2001
Cattle at a farm in Surrey have been found to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease.

Animals on a farm near Guildford have tested positive for the disease which swept the UK and wreaked havoc in 2001.

A three-kilometre protection zone has been put in place around the premises and a UK-wide ban imposed on movement of all cattle and pigs.

In accordance with the legislation, all the cattle on the premises will be culled, said a government spokesman.

The farm has been under restrictions since late on Thursday when symptoms were reported.

I'm not a farmer. I was wondering how exposed are we to this outbreak in the republic? Does the ban of movement of animals apply to NI also? Is there much cross-border trade with the north at the moment? I hope this doesn't put a damper on festivities in the Cooley peninsula this weekend.

SuperSean11

Its in england not northern ireland

maniac101

SuperSean11 wrote:

Its in england not northern ireland

That's where the 2001 outbreak started if you remember! It appears that the UK authorities are reacting more swiftly to this outbreak.

Wishbone Ash

maniac101 wrote:

That's where the 2001 outbreak started if you remember!

The 2001 outbreak was first detected at an abbatoir in Essex, not in Northern Ireland.

maniac101

Wishbone Ash wrote:

The 2001 outbreak was first detected at an abbatoir in Essex, not in Northern Ireland.

The Foot and Mouth outbreak in the Republic of Ireland in 2001 was caused by the disease spreading from Northern Ireland! The outbreaks in Northern Ireland were as a result of infected animals being imported from the UK. Everyone knows that the outbreak originated in England but thanks for the information!

NI moved last night to prevent imports from Britain, but the position with regard to the movement of cattle and meat products between NI and the Republic is unclear, (to me at least). Given a potential incubation period of up to two weeks, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that the disease has reached NI, as was the case the last time round.

Wishbone Ash

An interesting development....

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0804/fmd.html

fastrac

Looks like an american company making vaccines in the uk to sell in brazil.The americans wont allow the vaccine to be made in the U.S and wont touch brazilian beef.The E.U. lets it in with total disregard for its own farmers who are regulated to the strictest criteria worldwide.

The_Conductor

Unfortunately the only way to get Brazillian beef out of Europe is to produce evidence of the presence of banned substances in the meat. Its so cheap to produce beef over there- that its nigh impossible for Irish and other EU member states to compete on a level playing field, particularly when you consider the strict conditions under which livestock are reared and the safety obligations in place for slaughtering and processing in the community.

A more productive course of action rather than advocating a ban on Brazillian (or any other country) beef (or any other products), would probably be to bring as much pressure to bare on the EU to insist on the imposition of similar strict regimens along with verifiable checks, on the production systems of countries exporting produce into the community.

The likes of comments attributed to Padraig Walsh at the IFA meeting on Sunday- comments almost xenophobic in nature towards Brazillian farmers, are uncalled for, and do the stature of the IFA no good in the public consciousness.

Fremen

It could be worse...
At least the lab didn't leak rage-infected monkeys.

cavedave

How much do farmers expect from the general population in order to curb the spread of foot and mouth?
Currently due to this limited outbreak only certain restrictions on meat importation exist. In the last outbreak the St Patrick’s day festival was delayed, walking stopped and some other restrictions put in place. If a similar outbreak to the 2001 one reoccurs what steps do you think should be taken?