Foot and mouth alert brings back vivid memories

Mike Lintott still vividly remembers the sight of slaughtered cattle and the emotional suffering of farmers four years after the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain.

Dr Lintott was one of the first people called after the threat of a deliberate release of the virus on Waiheke because of his experience of dealing with the disease in 2001.

"Mostly I remember the effect it had on people," he said.

"The experience of living on tenterhooks for weeks, taking the precaution of having no visitors and disinfecting everything - and then the animals still got the disease. It was just devastating."

Dr Lintott was one of eight vets testing for the disease this week but today returns to his Hawkes Bay practice as new staff arrive.

He said he was happy to drop everything to help out.

"That experience [in Britain] makes you keen to help, to try to limit any outbreak in New Zealand so it never gets to that stage."

Testing for foot-and-mouth disease was "different" from normal work as a vet, he said.

"Dealing with animals is only half this job, people skills are really important. You help them through what they're dealing with, it's very disruptive to their lives."