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Foot & Mouth
This is relevant to Farming, even though it is a regular feature in Politics,
this page is concerned with the version that affects livestock, it is also
relevant to the political shambles that has blown the issue out of proportion
the potential consequences of the illness.
Where does one start?
Item (1) is an extract, the full text can be found at http://www.whatareweswallowing.freeserve.co.uk/footandmouth
1: So what is FMD?
The current wisdom which we
shall be examining a little later, theorises that FMD is viral in nature.?
It affects ruminants and cloven hoofed animals, symptoms
in livestock begin usually with a temperature, followed within 24 hours by the
appearance of blisters and ulcerations on places such as the tongue, lips, gums,
dental pad, inter-digital skin of the feet, bulbs of the heels and milk teats.
Occasionally, ulcerations appear
inside the nostrils or on the muzzle or vulva. Visually, these ulcerations
are the equivalent of large cold sores.
The resultant illness and lameness causes decreased appetite, a drop in milk
yield, a drop in productivity, and of course, increased care costs. Afflicted
animals almost always recover, usually within a week or two. Death occurs
in only 5 percent of cases. And the meat is fit to eat.
2: Is is lethal?
No, or at least no more than a heavy cold, or flu is
to humans.
3: Is it injurious to humans and other animals?
No, they may carry it,
but does not affect them.
4: What is the fuss about?
Good question, the origins are likely
to be found when farming had far greater political strength than it does today
i.e. that it convinced the government that the financial loss should be
compensated, and there is a financial loss in that the animals lose weight, milk
yield, etc.
5:- Why has it escalated to epidemic proportions?
Political
moves to dismantle local sourcing. This involves a bit of history, which I will
attempt to explain:
a: 50 years ago, every village had
it's own butcher, that butcher sourced his meat from the local farmers, and or,
cattle market, he slaughtered, butchered, and sold the products direct to his
customers. When a F&M outbreak occurred it only affected that area, all
other areas continued as normal. Apart from any other considerations, the meat
was, and is, still fit for human consumption, there is a loss of weight until
the animal recovers.
b: the policies of
successive governments, and the power of the supermarkets, eroded the butchers
function of slaughter man, this was taken over by area abattoirs. The local
cattle market is a thing of the past. Even with this
change, a F&M attack still retained an element functionality in the meat
sector.
c: EU regulations forced a lot of abattoirs out
of business due to the cost of hygiene requirements etc, this process of
elimination escalated in attempting to control the BSE effect.
d: The producer price has dropped to such a level that
the producer has to top up the income as best he can, this includes any grants
that are available, and with all the regulations and form filling that it
entails. The consequence is that he has to meet quota levels, or lose a
proportion of the income. This means that herd levels have to be adjusted,
hence, at certain times there is a lot of stock moved from A to Z via b, c, d,
etc. not good news when latent F&M is about, and as it takes about 4 days
for the symptoms to appear, a herd, or part of it, could be spread all over the
country, even abroad, which is exactly what did happen.
e: the 'family farm' has suffered the same fate as the 'family butcher', and for
much the same reason, the consequence is that farming has changed from the
'mixed farm' (a bit of everything and not a lot of anything), to specialised
farms (with not a lot of variation and a lot of a few things), hence a big herd
of cows has gone from 30-40 to 300 or more, so if one gets F&M it equals a
big problem.
The evidence is adding up to the fact that this epidemic was
well under way before MAFF got it's act into gear, just why that happened is far
from clear.......yet, although there is growing evidence of political
incompetence, that in self is far from new, but the consequences are magnifying
daily. Apart from the fact that none of the lessons learned from the 67/68
epidemic have been followed i.e. bury the carcasses as quick as possible (and
there are more earthmovers available now than 30 years ago), instead they insist
on incineration, which is leaving mounds of slaughtered animals littering the
countryside waiting for combustible material, or transport to an incinerator.
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