MAF braced for more foot and mouth scares

A series of foot and mouth scares are possible while intense publicity continues around the suspected hoax release of the disease, officials say.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) usually receives about 20 calls a year from farmers who believed their animals had symptoms consistent with foot and mouth.

However, that could rise significantly in coming days due to publicity around the suspected hoax, and MAF's awareness campaign which would include advertisements in major newspapers.

The ministry's assistant director-general Barry O'Neil today told a parliamentary committee it would publicise the disease symptoms to all New Zealand farmers in coming days.

Yesterday Environment Minister Marian Hobbs told Parliament that scares could be caused by such things as a cow eating a parsnip, which could result in blisters forming around their mouth.

These blisters are caused by natural compounds commonly found in the green tops of parsnips.

MAF director general Murray Sherwin told the committee that in addition to the scares, threats were sometimes received. But all such hoaxes in recent years had threatened to release the disease at some later date.

The current threat was the first time a person had claimed they had already released it.

MAF executives were briefing Parliament's primary production select committee on the suspected hoax.

Government officials received a letter on Tuesday stating that foot and mouth had been released on Waiheke Island the day before.

The letter said unless a substantial sum of money was paid and changes were made to the tax system the disease would be released elsewhere in New Zealand tomorrow.

- NZPA