Don't know if I really believe it FMD is under control in Britain, but I'm kinda amazed it hasn't erupted here yet.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/232/world/Six_months_after_start_of_foot:.shtml

Six months after start of foot-and-mouth epidemic, Britain holds the first live cattle auction

By Mara D. Bellaby, Associated Press, 8/20/2001 09:27

LONDON (AP) Live cattle were auctioned in Britain on Monday for the first time in six months, raising hopes among some British farmers that the foot-and-mouth epidemic that devastated their industry may finally be waning.

But other farmers in harder-hit areas, where the disease has been stubbornly hanging on for six months, were less optimistic. Carrying banners condemning the government's handling of the crisis, about 600 farmers gathered in London to protest at Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street residence.

At the auction in Kirkwall, the capital of northern Scotland's Orkney Islands, farmers from hundreds of miles away gathered as 430 cattle were auctioned.

The first cattle to be sold, a group of four Charolais steers from Westray in the Orkney Islands, were snapped up in seconds for $884 by a buyer for Kepac, a meat supplier.

The sale was held under strict disease prevention measures in what was designed as a trial run for future sales in areas that have so far escaped the disease. Buyers and sellers at the market had to wear rubber boots that had been scrubbed and dipped in disinfectant, and plastic overalls which were issued at the door.

But while Scottish farmers praised the auction, other farmers could only look on in frustration. Two new cases were confirmed over the weekend in Cumbria and North Yorkshire, two of the worst-hit areas in northern England.

In total, 1,960 cases have been reported since the disease was first spotted Feb. 20. More than 5.1 million sheep, cows and pigs have been slaughtered. The disease does not affect humans, but diminishes the animals' productivity and scares away export markets.

''We have been through hell and back, certainly in the south of Scotland where foot-and-mouth disease has run rife you really don't know what it's like unless you've experienced the destruction and devastation it has caused,'' said Jim Walker, president of the National Farmers' Union Scotland.

The last livestock auction to be held on the Orkney Islands was on Feb. 19, the day before the first case of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed at a slaughterhouse in Essex, northeast of London. Agriculture officials said a farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall in northern England had supplied the pigs.

At the epidemic's peak in March, about 40 new cases were identified each day. Authorities curbed animal movements, closed thousands of miles of footpaths and canceled scores of rural events.

Many restrictions have been lifted and almost all footpaths reopened, but the disease persists, despite Blair's insistence three months ago that the campaign to eradicate the disease was in the homestretch.

The farmers marching on Downing Street said they were frustrated at the lack of progress. They planned to hand over a model farm for Blair's children, who are currently vacationing with their parents in France. Symbolically, the farm didn't contain any animals, said Marilyn Handley, whose husband David was organizing the protest.

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/233/nation/FARM_SCENE_North_Carolina_w on_:.shtml

FARM SCENE: North Carolina won't slack off when it comes to foot-and- mouth disease

By Associated Press, 8/21/2001 05:15

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) It's been several months since the foot-and-mouth epidemic in Britain was brought under control, but officials here aren't assuming the threat is over.

State Emergency Management Director Eric Tolbert said plans are being made for a major foot-and-mouth response drill in October. The state also has stockpiled supplies needed to destroy infected livestock and decontaminate people, animals and vehicles.

''We're warehousing protective suits, captive bolt guns, gloves, boots, goggles, decontamination equipment, anything we might need,'' Tolbert said Monday. ''We want to be ready to move quickly.''

There is no known cure for foot-and-mouth disease, which produces blisters around the hooves and mouths of infected livestock. Dairy animals stop producing milk. Some, especially young animals, die.

Experts say an outbreak could damage North Carolina's economy for years. Meat prices could soar and the state's billion-dollar hog business could be decimated.

More than 9,000 British farms have been hit with the disease since the outbreak began in February. More than 3.7 million animals have been destroyed.

After the British outbreak, state officials added their own response to the state's emergency operations manual, alongside plans for plane crashes, weather disasters and nuclear accidents.

Jim Kittrell, a state veterinarian, recently returned from battling the epidemic in England. He said it was much worse than dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

''With a disaster like Floyd, people worked at first on rescuing and feeding animals, then as the water subsided they moved to disposal and burial,'' Kittrell said. ''There was always an end in sight.''

Not so with foot-and-mouth. ''It just seems to go on and on and on,'' he said.

On the Net:

U.S. Department of Agriculture: http://www.usda.gov/usda.htm

N.C. Department of Agriculture: http://www.agr.state.nc.us

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2001