London, March 18: The UK government's chief veterinary officer acknowledged on Sunday that Britain could face a long battle to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease in the country, as the tally of infected sites rose to 298. ``I think it is going to take a long time,'' said Mr Jim Scudamore. And referring to the task of disposing of the carcasses of slaughtered animals, he added: ``We have an immense logistical problem.''Farmers often have to wait several days before the bodiesof their animals are taken away and incinerated. During the last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain in 1967, some 430,000 animals were slaughtered in six months.
In comparison, 2,41,000 animals have either been killed or are about to be in just one month, while a further 3,00,000 are likely to be culled, Mr Scudamore told the BBC. Mr Scudamore defended the government's decision to slaughter apparently healthy pigs and sheep within three kilometres of infected areas in the worst-hit areas. ``There is a heavy risk of infection,'' in these regions and a lot of sheep were undoubtedly ``potentially infected,'' even if they showed no signs of the disease. (AFP)Mr Scudamore is to visit Cumbria on Monday to explain the necessity of systematic culling to worried farmers who have threatened to use force to prevent government veterinarians from entering their farms.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
