Britain gave the first positive sign today that its battle against foot-and-mouth disease might be working when it ruled out vaccinating livestock for the time being, even though the number of outbreaks has topped 1,000.
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British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair
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A Downing Street spokesman said that "given that there are signs that our policy (of mass slaughter of livestock) is starting to bite, we don't feel at this stage that we need to go down that route."
His announcement came shortly before the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food reported the number of outbreaks had risen to 1,004.
The decision to rule out vaccination for now will reassure farmers, who have lobbied ministers to postpone vaccinating cattle in the worst affected areas.
The government was hoping that the opening of another landfill site at Turnhill in Shropshire, northwest England, would help speed up the process of disposing of carcasses of thousands of animals slaughtered in the mass cull.
But a report in the Timesnewspaper suggested that thousands of slaughtered animals buried might have to be dug up because they risked poisoning household water supplies.
The newspaper said government advisers expect such action after it emerged yesterday that 900 sheep would have to be dug up after they were mistakenly buried next to a spring.
The EU's Standing Veterinary Committee, meeting in Brussels today, was widely expected to extend export embargoes on meat and animal products in force on Britain and the Netherlands.
The Netherlands reported three new outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease yesterday in the east of the country, as the EU authorised a limited vaccination programme to try and halt the disease's spread.
The new cases brought the total number of sites affected by the virus in the Netherlands to 15.
In Germany, farm officials were nervously awaiting final results of tests on the country's first suspected foot-and-mouth cases after 100 pigs were slaughtered as a precautionary measure. Initial tests were negative, but final results could take days.
Some 30 sheep were destroyed at a farm near Giessen in central Germany overnight after the appearance of a possible foot-and-mouth disease infection, the Hesse region authorities said today.
AFP
