Q&A: Foot and Mouth disease

Q.�� What is foot and mouth disease

A.�� Foot-and-mouth is an infectious viral disease that causes small blisters called vesicules to erupt around the feet and mouth of an animal. The earliest signs that an animal has the virus include loss of appetite, increased temperature, lameness and dribbling. Foot-and-mouth disease does not kill the animal it infects, therefore, the only way to stop the virus spreading is to destroy the infected animal.

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Q.�� How is it transmitted - and how can it be stopped
A.�� Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious disease that is usually spread from one animal to another through the movement of soil and animal waste. The best way to contain the disease is to slaughter the infected animals and subsequently isolate or cordon-off the infected area, this ensures that the infected soil is not moved from one place to another.

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Q.�� Where did the recent UK outbreak begin
A.�� The source of the UK outbreak has been traced back to a farm on the western fringe of Newcastle upon Tyne. The farm in question is the destination for many pigs arriving from all parts of the UK and Europe, where they are fattened before being held for several weeks or months. This makes the farm a vital link in the national supply chain.

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Q.�� Is it only pigs that are being infected
A.�� Foot-and-mouth disease can affect all cloven-footed farm animals,�not horses. This means that pigs, cattle, sheep and goats can all catch the disease. In the latest UK outbreak only pigs and sheep have been found to be infected with the disease.

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Q. How does it affect certain animals

A. Foot and mouth is not a dreadful disease, it�rarely kills the animals that catch it, generally they fully recover in a couple of weeks and the meat is still good for human consumption. The symptoms of loss of appetite, lameness and high temperature does,�however, affect the productivity of infected animals.

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Q.�� Can foot and mouth affect Humans

A.�� The short answer is no, not really, however, scientists seem to differ in opinion. If it can occur in humans it must be a very rare and does not represent a threat to life or long term health. A veterinary dictionary suggests that in the past 100 years 100 cases have been reported; though none of these have been proved. It is likely that suspected cases may have been confused with human diseases such as hand-foot and mouth which shows similar symptoms.

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Q.� Why the mass slaughter
A.�The concern is economic - no one abroad is going buy our meat if its known to be infected. It all goes back to the late 19th Century when Britain decided foot and mouth should no be lived with, it should be eliminated through 'cordon sanitaire'. And hence the draconian policy of mass slaughter we are currently seeing.��

Q.�� How has the Government responded to the crisis
A.�� The Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Fishery has given the go-ahead for the incineration of animal carcasses in the infected areas of the country. So far, more than 12,000 pigs, sheep and cattle have been slaughtered nation-wide in a seemingly vain effort to thwart the spread of foot-and-mouth. The government has also ordered a three-week ban on livestock movement and cautioned people to 'stay away from the countryside' until the epidemic is contained. As a precautionary measure several zoos and parks around the country have been closed including the Deer Sanctuary at Epping Forest in Essex and Chester Zoo, as well as three of London's Royal Parks. The Countryside Alliance's London protest march has also been called off, along with several football matches, racing events and other social fixtures that were likely to draw crowds from around the country.

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Q.�� What effect will there be on the�farming industry
A.�� With thousands more animals likely to be destroyed, UK farms are expected to loose millions of pounds in lost trade and livestock. Though the government has promised to compensate all farmers who have been adversely affected by the foot-and-mouth outbreak, the crisis is merely the latest in a line of catastrophes that have hit the farming community. Still struggling to recover from the BSE crisis, which saw British beef banned across Europe and the US, the farming industry is facing years of financial turmoil in the wake of this latest crisis. The UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has also announced an emergency handout �168 million to help farmers.

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By Christina Okoli