The Associated Press
LONDON
- Workers began slaughtering thousands of British livestock Saturday, part of
an effort to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that the government
said appears to be working.
Pigs, sheep and cattle were being killed on
six farms where the disease has been confirmed and at two others that had "dangerous
contact" with the infected sites, Chief Veterinary Officer Jim Scudamore said.
The carcasses would be burned to keep the risk of transmission to a minimum.
Officials
said it was a positive sign that no new cases of the highly infectious disease
had been confirmed since Friday.
"We know that events can develop very
quickly and that this is the crucial time," said Agriculture Minister Nick Brown.
"Because of the incubation period of this type of foot-and-mouth disease
we would expect to be receiving further reports from farmers now if it had spread,
and so far there are no other reports."
Foot-and-mouth disease affects
cloven-footed animals, including sheep, goats and cows. Causing blisters on the
mouth and feet, fever and loss of appetite, it is not usually fatal, but is highly
infectious, capable of being carried on the wind. Transmission to humans is rare.
Britain suspended all exports of live animals, meat and dairy products
on Wednesday. The United States, Russia and the European Union also have imposed
import restrictions.
On Friday, British agriculture authorities slapped
a seven-day ban on livestock movements, closed cattle markets and barred hunting
for a week in a bid to halt the spread of the disease.
The National Farmers'
Union said the ban would cost farmers $74 million in animal sales.
The
government appealed for veterinarians from across the country to help contain
the outbreak, believed to have originated at a farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland,
northeast England. The farm delivered pigs to a slaughterhouse where the disease
was first detected.
Britain's first foot-and-mouth outbreak in 20 years
has affected millions of people across the country. Horse races have been canceled
and zoos closed, while supermarkets warned that their stocks of lamb, beef and
pork will only last a few days. |
