Disease now covers all UK

LONDON - The foot and mouth epidemic gripped the whole of Britain yesterday, after outbreaks were confirmed for the first time in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Irish republic was thrust into the frontline of the battle to head off the disease with Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announcing he was sending an extra 450 troops to prevent British livestock crossing the border illegally.

As six new cases were confirmed, taking the total to 32, it emerged that British ministers were warned 10 months ago about the dangers of the disease being introduced through illegal meat imports from Africa.

Nick Brown, the Agriculture Minister, was under pressure to explain why he did not respond to a warning last May that passengers from Nigeria and Ghana were bringing in potentially infected meat. This included entire butchered deer and dead monkeys carried in suitcases.

The new outbreaks were among sheep and cattle on farms at Longtown, Carlisle, and Tirril, near Penrith, Cumbria. Livestock was affected on farms at Throckley, Tyne and Wear, Lockerbie and Canonbie, Dumfriesshire, in Scotland, and at Meigh, South Armagh, in Northern Ireland.

It emerged that 250 sheep from the farm at Meigh had been taken south of the border to a slaughterhouse at Roscommon where they could have come into contact with Irish livestock.

Other European countries tightened up their emergency measures, slaughtering thousands of animals imported from Britain and ordering the disinfection of people and vehicles arriving from the country.

With supplies of British meat running out, the Government and industry leaders were to meet overnight to draw up emergency measures for limited numbers of healthy livestock to be slaughtered under controlled conditions to supply shops.

Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, said that if the restrictions of farming and movement of animals continued for six months, the losses would total more than £700 million.

One estimate suggested the outbreak could cost Britain £2.6 billion - almost as much as the entire annual subsidy to the farming industry. The Government's chief veterinary officer, Jim Scudamore, said he was expecting roughly the same number of daily cases between now and next Friday as had already occurred, although they would most likely be linked to movements that took place before the ban brought in last weekend. More than 25,000 animals from confirmed sites had been slaughtered.

Britain's leading dogs' show, Crufts, has been postponed after farmers feared that dogs could spread foot and mouth disease. The organisers had wanted to go ahead with the event starting next Thursday, after being told by Government vets that there would be no serious risk to public health. But the Kennel Club decided to postpone the event until May or June.

Horse racing has been suspended until next Wednesday. The Jockey Club insisted that the Cheltenham Festival in two weeks' time would go ahead but the Irish Trainers' Association decided not to send any of their horses. All horse and greyhound racing in Ireland has been banned.

The Six Nations rugby match between Wales and Ireland in Cardiff has been postponed.

With much of the countryside already shut down, Britain's biggest landowner, the Forestry Commission, officially closed all its forests to the public for the first time in its 80-year history.

In Germany, another farm was placed under quarantine and the Government ordered the slaughter of all sheep, goats and deer imported from Britain since February 1. Border police confiscated food products from air passengers arriving from Britain.

Eurotunnel workers were to disinfect all cars and lorries arriving in France from Britain.

At Cyprus and Portugal air passengers from Britain were required to walk through disinfectant baths.

- AGENCIES

Feature: Foot-and-Mouth Disease epidemic