Foot-and-mouth prompts Britain to ban exports
WANBOROUGH, England (AP) — Britain raced to avert economic disaster Saturday by halting meat and dairy exports and the movement of livestock around the country after foot-and-mouth disease was found on a farm.
The strain of the highly infectious disease found was identical to one used at a nearby government-funded laboratory that is researching vaccines for the virus, Britain’s environment agency said Saturday. Officials are still investigating other possible sources, the country’s chief veterinarian said.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown vowed to work “night and day” to avoid a repeat of a 2001 outbreak, when millions of dead animals were burned on pyres, swaths of the countryside were closed, rural tourism was badly hurt and British meat was shut out of international markets.
“Our first priority has been to act quickly and decisively,” Brown said. “I can assure people ... we are doing everything in our power to look at the scientific evidence and to get to the bottom of what has happened and then to eradicate this disease.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said Britain had banned the export of live cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, as well as carcasses, meat and milk.
The United States and Japan immediately banned British pigs and pork products in response to the outbreak. British beef is already banned in both countries because of Mad Cow disease. The European Union was also likely to announce a ban on British livestock imports in the 27-nation bloc.
British authorities also imposed a nationwide ban on transporting cattle, sheep, goats and pigs in response to the outbreak.
Foot-and-mouth disease causes fever and blister-like lesions on the mouths, teats and hooves of affected animals. It can be deadly in livestock but is harmless to humans. Although many animals recover, the disease leaves them debilitated, causing major losses in meat and milk production.
The strain of the disease was the same as one used at the Institute for Animal Health’s Pirbright Laboratory, which is about four miles from the affected farm. Authorities have asked the lab to review its biosecurity procedures, the government’s chief veterinarian, Debby Reynolds said. She ordered a new six-mile protection zone to be set up around the farm and the lab.
The strain detected in the outbreak is not one recently found in animals, DEFRA said.
No one at the laboratory returned a phone message seeking comment Saturday.
Officials did not specify how many animals at the farm were infected, but said all livestock on the farm were slaughtered and incinerated. Scientists were trying to determine if vaccinations could be used to try to halt the spread of the disease.
Reynolds said it was too soon to determine how far the disease may have spread.
300 dead cows found in Iowa
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A cow operation is under investigation after authorities discovered about 300 dead cows and calves near the western Iowa town of Ireton.
The Sioux County sheriff’s office found the carcasses on a rural farm Aug. 1, and also found 57 live cows, bulls and calves in two holding areas – many of them malnourished, officials said. The live cattle were transported to Tri-State Livestock Co. in Sioux Center.
Sheriff Dan Altena said there are a few buildings and lots at the rural farm, but nobody lives there. He said the animals were transported there sometime in February. Time and cause of death have not been determined.
“It initially appears not enough food and water for the animals played a part,” Altena said.
The investigation will continue with the possibility of criminal charges. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was helping Thursday to properly dispose of the carcasses.
“It’s very important that people contact the state veterinarian and the closest DNR field office when there are massive die-offs,” said Jeff Prier, a DNR environmental specialist who visited the site. “We can help producers find a suitable burial spot that won’t pose a risk to surface or ground waters.”
Farmer found guilty of starving and neglecting stuck cattle COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A farmer who served about 40 years as secretary of his county’s agricultural society faces up to $3,000 in fines and nearly a year in jail after a judge ruled Thursday that he left four of his animals up to their necks in mud to die.
Roy Hoffman, 69, was found guilty of four counts of depriving animals of “necessary sustenance.” Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Harland Hale found that two bulls and two heifers became stranded in thick spring mud on Hoffman’s farm in March 2005 and were unable to reach food or water.
Each charge carries a maximum $750 fine or 90 days in jail, or both. Hoffman also could be prohibited from owning livestock. The animals were removed with a backhoe by the Capital Area Humane Society.
Hale called the decision “extraordinarily difficult.” He said the farm’s location in the western part of Columbus made it more likely that motorists would notice the dying cattle.
Hoffman and his attorney, Robert Cesner Jr., had no comment after the ruling.
The defense argued Hoffman tried to protect the cattle, stuck in mud caused by heavy winter rains, by taking grain to the animals stuck in the mud. Hoffman’s son testified that his father has fed the cattle every day since 1991.
The cause of the animals’ death could not conclusively be determined by Dr. Laura Rush, an Ohio State University animal pathologist. Necropsies performed on the animals showed the deaths might have been caused by “inadequate nutrition for some time,” Rush said.
Hoffman is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 26 after a presentence investigation into his background.
This farm news was published in the Aug. 8, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
