§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made in identifying the cause of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease; and when they expect to report to Parliament on this matter. [HL81]
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§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The current epidemic has been caused by a specific strain of the foot and mouth virus (PanAsian Strain O) which has occurred in a number of countries around the world. The precise means of the introduction of the virus into Great Britain is unknown and the subject of continuing investigations, but is most likely to have been introduced in imported meat or meat products.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their latest information on the relative importance of the mechanisms for the spread of foot and mouth disease and in particular spreading by the wind, movements of vehicles and machinery, farm workers and itinerant contract workers, wild animals., and recreational walkers on footpaths and in open country. [HL82]
§ Lord WhittyEach infected premises is subject to epidemiological investigations to determine the source of infection and therefore the most likely means of transmission. The results of these investigations on the first 1,706 infected premises are given in the following table:
Number of cases Percentage of cases Airborne1 7 <1% Dairy tanker 5 <1% Infected animals 84 5% Local spread 1,381 81% Other fomite2 9 1% Person 60 4% Truck 18 1% Under investigation 142 8% Total 1,706 100% Footnote: 1 Cases infected by windborne spread from infected pigs. 2 A fomite is defined as any inanimate object capable of carrying the virus. Windborne spread has not been a feature of the current epidemic because only 10 pig herds have become affected so far. Pigs are the major source of virus for windborne spread because of the relatively large excretion of virus from their respiratory tracts, as compared to that from cattle, sheep and goats.
Local spread is the attributed source of infection when infected premises are within 3km of another infected premises and there are a number of possible sources such as farm machinery and vehicles, contaminated roads, feed lorries and local aerosol transmission. The last of these is impossible to attribute specifically to individual infected premises as it cannot be distinguished from other means of local spread.
Itinerant contract workers have been identified as the most likely source of infection for a number of infected premises associated with personnel in the above table. Wild animals have not been identified to 78WA be the source of infection for any infected premises. No outbreak has been specifically attributed to recreational walkers. Provided they follow the advice and guidance provided, the risk of spread by walkers is very small.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their latest information on the cause of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the Craven area of North Yorkshire (the "Settle rectangle"). [HL83]
§ Lord WhittyEpidemiological investigations are still in progress as to the source and mechanisms of spread of infection in the Settle/Clitheroe area. Investigations are focusing on the movement of animals, people or vehicles from an infected area as both the source and the mechanism of spread in the area.
§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has decided what period must elapse between the last notification of foot and mouth disease in England and Wales and the reopening of the Over Thirty Month Scheme.[HL179]
§ Lord WhittyThe Over Thirty Month Scheme has been suspended, other than in Northern Ireland and for casualty animals in Great Britian, due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The scheme will be reopened as soon as the processing capacity, which has been diverted to deal with the foot and mouth outbreak, can be made available to the scheme.