Foot-and-mouth disease briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 31, 2001

U.S. foot-and-mouth plan calls for state quarantines

WASHINGTON -- Should foot-and-mouth disease reach this country, the government's emergency response plan lays out a "cascade of events" that would follow, including a halt to all movement of livestock in the state where the case is found. The entire state could later be quarantined.

A positive test for foot-and-mouth "will generate immediate, appropriate local and national measures to eliminate the crisis and minimize the consequences," says a summary of the plan released Friday by the Agriculture Department.

Foot-and-mouth is harmless to humans, but it is dreaded by livestock producers and veterinarians because the virus spreads so easily and quickly. The United States has not had a confirmed case since 1929, although about 100 tests a year are done on animals with possible symptoms of the disease.

"We have been effective up to this point and I think we'll continue to be effective," said Alfonso Torres, deputy administrator of veterinary services for the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The emergency plan, which has existed for years, is still subject to "fine-tuning" as a result of discussions with state and industry officials, Torres said.

Under the plan, a positive test would trigger a "cascade of events . . . starting with a conference call" been state and federal officials.

The state veterinarian would then quarantine the affected farm and consider stopping the movement of animals within the state's borders. State officials would consider destroying the affected herd -- a virtual certainty in the case of foot-and-mouth -- and determine whether there are wildlife nearby that could spread the disease further.

Another series of actions follows when a case of foot-and-mouth is "confirmed positive," meaning that the virus has been isolated and identified after a positive test on an animal.

USDA would quarantine the state to limit the movement of trucks and other vehicles that could spread the virus to other states.

"The idea of stopping movement immediately so that people and animals and trucks don't move is absolutely critical," said Lonnie King, dean of Michigan State University's veterinary school and a former administrator of the federal inspection service.

"If everything stops moving, then you can catch up with the disease. If not, then the disease is always two or three steps in front of you."

"Movement control zones" would be established around exposed herds, extending at least 6 miles in each direction. No animals or animal products would be allowed to leave the zones, and all people, equipment and vehicles would have to be disinfected before leaving.

Burial, not burning, is listed as the best way to dispose of animals that have to be killed because of exposure to the disease. Burial is easier, quicker and "less polluting," the plan says. Forty-two cubic feet of ground -- an area roughly 6 feet by 3 feet by 21/2 feet -- is needed to bury one cow, five hogs, or five sheep.

N.C. pigs don't have the disease

Tests on two pigs at a North Carolina packing plant that were suspected of having foot-and-mouth disease turned out negative, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

Another sample taken from a separate market was being tested.

"This is something that is not uncommon," said department spokesman Kevin Herglotz. About 100 such tests are done annually, according to the department.

Federal and state officials frequently test animals that exhibit symptoms similar to those caused by the disease, including blisters on the hooves and mouth.

"Whenever we get a suspect case we take it very seriously," Herglotz said.

Tissue samples were flown Thursday night from a packing plant in Robersonville, 78 miles east of Raleigh, said Jim Knight, a spokesman for the state Agriculture Department.

A state agriculture inspector at the packing plant contacted a U.S. inspector, and samples were flown to a federal lab on Plum Island, off Long Island, N.Y., the only facility where foot-and-mouth testing is done.

Another sample was taken from a Sampson County market, southeast of Raleigh, and also sent to the federal lab, Knight said. Test results were not expected before Friday night.

Blair postpones vaccination decision

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair postponed a decision Friday on a controversial vaccination effort that could turn the tide in the battle against foot-and-mouth disease but at the same time endanger the long-term future of Britain's livestock farmers.

Blair, dressed in yellow overalls and disinfectant-scrubbed shoes, was touring the worst-hit areas of Scotland when his office announced the delay. A spokesman said British farmers were not convinced that an emergency vaccination of cattle, approved by the European Union on Wednesday, would be effective.

The postponement means Blair could announce a decision at the same time as he declares whether Britain will go to the polls on May 3.

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