maff.gov.uk

British agriculture is in crisis , and has been long before the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The last outbreak hit these islands in 1967 when a thousand or so cases were reported .That state of emergency lasted for eight months.Since then we in the UK have been certified as a foot and mouth disease free area. As I write we have had 461 cases reported so far in this latest outbreak . Worringly Holland , France and Eire have also reported cases in the past few days. This begs the question will the disease spread throughout Europe? It may well do . After all there are at least 26 countries ... more

Firstly let me present my credentials to write on this very emotive subject. I have worked for the meat slaughtering industry in a managerial position for the last 40 years. I saw the heartbreak at first hand of the producers of livestock in the 1967 outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease and thought that never again would I have to witness this disaster. I count myself fortunate that I am out of the industry at this time. To you it is a case of listening to the news and hearing numbers quoted…20 cases 30 cases…40 cases each day. It sounds very grim but these numbers are farms that ... more

WWW.Maff.gov.uk is the website for the people who dont know one end of a cow from the other. This is one of the reason why Foot and mouth is now serious out of control. This website is not very good and quite basic....just what Ive come to expect from an out of date government department....Privatization is now required I do believe!!! I was surprised however to find there website had been updated tonight at 1830 and read the following:- At 18:30 today there were 728 cases in Great Britain and 1 in Northern Ireland. 30 cases have been confirmed today. Of the 55 million livestock in the UK 719 ... more

I am a towny with very little knowledge of the countryside and how farms operate other than what I have seen on TV and heard on the radio. What I have gleaned is that the foot and mouth virus that has hit our land is one of many types and in this case it is highly virulent. I have also learned that inoculation against foot and mouth isn’t 100% effective and in cases where an animal has been vaccinated, it can still be a carrier of the virus even though the animal itself is not affected. In fact any animal or bird can be a carrier as well as humans and the very ground that we all tread ... more

I was looking to find a good site that gave good information on the current foot and mouth outbreak. I went to the ministry of agriculture food and fisheries website at http://www.maff.gov.uk and I found it very usefull as it is updated regularly and it also tells you what is actually going on, as the news in papers or on the TV can be a bit misleading or not entirely truthfull. There is also advice on what to do with regards to living within a exclusion zone. It also tells you what signs to look out for in sheep, pigs and cows. There is information about dogs and other animals which may not ... more