http://www.boston.com/dailynews/114/world/Man_with_suspected_foot_and_mo:.shtml

Man with suspected foot-and-mouth case swallowed fluid when carcass burst

By Associated Press, 4/24/2001 11:25

LONDON (AP) A slaughterer who may have Britain's first human case of foot-and-mouth disease in decades accidentally swallowed fluid from a decomposing carcass, the government said Tuesday.

The man, whose name has not been released, was working on the slaughter of diseased animals in Cumbria, a county in northwest England that has been hit hard in Britain's two-month-old epidemic of the livestock disease. A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said he understood that the man was moving a rotting cattle carcass when it burst, sending fluid into his mouth.

The man underwent tests for the disease Monday, but results have not been disclosed.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Blair spokesman said there is no health risk to the general population. He pointed out that even if the man in question has contracted foot-and-mouth, the circumstances surrounding his case are highly unusual.

Foot-and-mouth disease is extremely contagious for livestock, but only one previous human case has been reported in Britain a man infected in 1966 during the last foot-and-mouth epidemic. The ailment is not considered dangerous for humans, producing flu-like symptoms and short-lived blisters.

Events like this can happen ... but it is very rare and it's not contagious or life-threatening,'' British Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said Tuesday in Luxembourg.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/114/world/Britain_reassures_Europe_on_ fo:.shtml

Britain reassures Europe on foot-and-mouth, describes possible human case

By Paul Ames, Associated Press, 4/24/2001 10:47

LUXEMBOURG (AP) Britain's agriculture minister assured his European Union colleagues Tuesday that the foot-and-mouth epidemic is slowing and downplayed health fears over burning livestock and a suspected case of human infection from the outbreak.

''The number of new cases is coming down,'' Nick Brown said. ''We will succeed in eradicating the disease.''

Optimism that the British foot-and-mouth epidemic is past its peak has been dampened by new concerns of a human health threat from the burning pyres of carcasses across Britain. Environmentalists claim the pyres have released dangerous levels of cancer-causing dioxins.

''There is no risk-free option'' for getting rid of the hundreds of thousands of animals slaughtered to slow the spread of the disease, Brown told reporters. ''It's up to the government to minimize the risks, which is what we've set out to do.''

EU ministers also quizzed Brown over suspicions that a slaughterer who accidentally swallowed fluid from a decomposing carcass may have become the first human to contract foot-and-mouth disease in the current outbreak.

The slaughterer was tested Monday for the disease, and the results are not yet known. His name has not been released.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said he understood that the man, who was working in the hard-hit county of Cumbria in northwest England, was moving a rotting cattle carcass when it burst, sending fluid into his mouth.

''I only say this just to illustrate that should this be confirmed, how unusual are the circumstances regarding this individual possibly contracting foot-and-mouth,'' said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The virus only very rarely affects humans and is not considered dangerous, producing flu-like symptoms and short-lived blisters.

''Events like this can happen ... but it is very rare and it's not contagious or life-threatening,'' Brown said.

EU ministers were cheered that the number of new cases in Britain has slowed to around 15 per day down from over 30 a few weeks ago and that the spread of the disease elsewhere seems to have been curtailed.

Although the Netherlands is still registering new cases, with 26 farms infected, no other cases have been found beyond two in France and one in Ireland discovered almost five weeks ago.

Britain has registered over 1,400 cases since the outbreak began in February, and officials warn it could be many months before the country is fully free of the virus.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler welcomed news that Russia one of the biggest export markets for EU meat was relaxing a ban imposed because of foot-and-mouth. He said meat from nations with foot-and-mouth cases would remain banned.

Turning to mad cow disease, ministers were expected to back plans to extend a ban on the use of animal remains in livestock feed, which is due to run out in June.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is believed to have spread through feeding cattle with the ground remains of sheep suffering from a similar brain-wasting ailment. The prohibition on meat and bone meal in animal feed is likely to remain until next year, when new EU-wide safety legislation comes into force. Some nations want the ban relaxed earlier.

The European Commission released figures at the meeting showing a slight recovery in the beef market, which has been hit hard by mad cow fears. Beef sales were 18 percent below normal levels, compared to 23 percent last month.

''The decline of consumption is not as serious as we assumed ... there is light at the end of the tunnel,'' Fischler said.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001