Damage ‘should not be forgotten’

Mar 18 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

THE Government should not forget the immense damage last year’s outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease did to the UK sheep industry, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has said.

The Anderson report into the Pirbright FMD outbreak, which was released last week, praised the Government’s handling of the crisis. But CLA president, Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, said it was not all good news.

“It is no exaggeration to say the consequences of this outbreak dealt a near ruinous blow to our sheep industry. Movement restrictions, a ban on exports and the fact that lambs could not be sold when they should have been and had to be fed over winter and sold late, has seen incomes in the sector slashed by 50% over the course of a single year.

“This was a massive breach of biosecurity at a government-funded institution which could – and should – have been avoided if earlier warnings had been acted on.”

The CLA says the report’s positive points are its recommendations to establish a National Institute of Infectious Diseases and to create an Independent Advisory Committee on Animal and Emerging Infectious Diseases which the Association supports wholeheartedly.

However, the CLA President said the report also highlighted the fact the government had failed to understand the crucial importance of effective communication and management systems and that the “ambiguities and wrangling” over departmental leadership needed to be sorted out.