BEN GILL HELPS TO LAUNCH FOOT AND MOUTH BLITZ
CAMPAIGN
The stubborn rump of the foot and mouth outbreak
will only be eradicated by maintaining the strictest disease control
precautions to the very end, NFU President Ben Gill said today.
The warm weather of the next few months - which helps to kill the virus -
provides the best chance yet to stamp it out once and for all, he said.
Mr Gill was speaking at the launch of the Stop the Spread campaign to blitz the
disease by Food and Farming Minister Lord Whitty and Animal Health Minister
Elliot Morley of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The campaign will involve sending a video and leaflet setting out the best ways
of beating the disease to more than 90,000 livestock farmers in England.
Industry organisations like animal feed firms and dairy companies, vets and
MPs will also be enlisted to spread the message that everyone in at risk
areas must keep up disease control measures.
Mr Gill said: "We have to take advantage of the summer to give this virus
nowhere to hide. The tail of the disease is proving very stubborn but if we
cannot get it beaten by the autumn then we will be in serious trouble.
"There is simply no other way to stop it spreading than for everyone -
from farmers themselves to the postmen who deliver their mail - to keep up
their guard.
"The points on this video may seem obvious but after so many months of
maintaining this tortuous regime we all need to be reminded of how effective
the most simple measures can be."
Several key points are pressed home in the video including the need to:
* Keep cattle and sheep separate.
* Keep all vehicles off land used by livestock.
* Clean and disinfect all vehicles - and people - that come onto the
farm.
* Only help out on neighbouring farms if absolutely essential.
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