Foot and Mouth Disease in Surrey Cattle

Foot and Mouth Disease in Surrey Cattle



Aug. 2007  - There are now two confirmed cases of 
the dreaded foot and mouth disease in Surrey cattle, and animal health 
authorities are on high alert for more cases as they work to contain the 
outbreak and determine its cause. 
On August 3, UK Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds confirmed the 
presence of the viral disease on a farm near Wanborough, in Surrey. A 
protection zone of three kilometers (two mile) radius and a surveillance 
zone of 10 kilometers (six miles) were placed around the premises, and all 
the cattle on the premises have been culled. 
On Monday, a second infected premises was confirmed on a farm within the 
protection zone, and 97 animals on that farm have also been culled.

Reynolds yesterday ordered culling on suspicion of foot and mouth disease 
on a third farm, this one adjacent to the second infected premises in the 
protection zone. 
On Saturday is was confirmed that the strain of virus found on the first 
farm was not recently circulating in animals, but is the same as that used 
for vaccines at an animal disease research site three miles from the farm. 

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said today that the virus was held at 
both the Institute for Animal Health and Merial Animal Health Ltd at 
Pirbright. An urgent assessment of biosecurity is underway at the 
institute. 
Referring to a Health and Safety Executive report on the causes of the 
outbreak, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today that that the chances of 
the virus being transmitted by air or by surface water from the Pirbright 
facility were "negligible." 
The government is undertaking a "major effort" to "isolate and control" 
the foot and mouth outbreak the prime minister said. 
Investigators are now looking at the drainage systems at the Merial plant 
as well as the possibility of human transmission. 
Foot and mouth disease, sometimes called hoof and mouth disease, is a 
highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease of cattle and pigs. It 
can also infect deer, goats, and sheep, as well as elephants, rats, and 
hedgehogs. 
The Health Protection Agency advises that foot and mouth disease is not a 
direct public health threat. 
The Food Standards Agency considers that foot and mouth disease has no 
implications for the human food chain. Because the virus that causes the 
disease is sensitive to stomach acid, it cannot spread to humans through 
consumption of infected meat. 


An outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom in the spring 
and summer of 2001 was caused by a different strain of the disease. That 
episode saw more than 2,000 cases of the disease in farms across the 
British countryside. Around seven million sheep and cattle were killed in 
a successful attempt to halt the disease outbreak. 
Foot and mouth is a disease of cattle and very few human cases have ever 
been recorded even though the disease is endemic in animals in many parts 
of the world including Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. 
"Foot and mouth disease only crosses the species barrier from cattle to 
human with very great difficulty. The last human case reported in Britain 
occurred in 1966. 
The disease in humans, in the very rare cases that have occurred, is mild, 
short-lived and requires no medical treatment," British health officials 
say. 
To control this current outbreak, a national ban preventing the movement 
of susceptible animals across Great Britain, except for Northern Ireland, 
remains in place. 
Footpaths and bridleways in the first protection zone have been closed – 
but otherwise the countryside remains open. 
After veterinary review, the decision has been taken to permit the 
movement of live animals direct to slaughter, and the collection of dead 
animals from farms from 00.01 hours on Thursday. These general licences 
will only apply outside of the protection and surveillance zones. 
Reynolds told a news conference on Wednesday that these movements of 
animals would be allowed only under strict licensing conditions, including 
biosecurity measures on farms, in transport and in abattoirs. 
"I continue to urge all farmers and all others involved to take the 
highest level of biosecurity measures and to follow the conditions of the 
licences in every respect," she said. 
Other movements of livestock, such as sending animals to market, are still 
banned. 
Richard Ellison, regional director of the National Farmers Union, welcomed 
the relaxation of the animal movement ban. The approval of transport 
licenses would bring "some return to normality and would help "limit the 
damage" to the livestock industry, he told reporters. 
On Monday, Prime Minister Brown has visited the affected area of Surrey. 
He met with local representatives of the National Farmers' Union and staff 
at a regional disease control center in Reigate.


He thanked local farmers for their "support and understanding" and 
promised that "no resource will be spared" in dealing with the infection. 
"We have more than 150 people out in the field making sure it is possible 
to carry out tests and check the area," Brown said. "We also have hundreds 
of people around the country doing a magnificent job to make sure all the 
preparations to control the disease are carried out." 
"This is a major national effort, the focus of which is to contain and 
control the disease and then eradicate it," the prime minister said. 
Speaking to journalists during the visit, Brown said it is important to 
keep an "open mind" about the source of the infection. 
In Brussels today, the European Union's Standing Committee on the Food 
Chain and Animal Health voted unanimously to continue an EU export ban on 
British meat and livestock until August 25. The committee will meet again 
on August 23. 

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