EU may tag all farm animals

Germany is investigating a suspected case of foot-and-mouth which has already been confirmed in Britain, Holland, France and Ireland

LONDON, England -- EU Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne says it might be necessary to tag every farm animal in Europe in order to prevent a repeat of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

He was speaking on Thursday as the disease, which has devastated the UK's farming community, was confirmed in Ireland, France and The Netherlands.

Tagging would enable routes of infection to be swiftly identified and would prevent illicit movements of animals, which are suspected to have contributed to the speed of foot-and-mouth's spread, he said.

Reports on Friday also said Germany was investigating its first suspected outbreak, on a pig farm in Lower Saxony. Test results are expected on Saturday.

Also on Friday, EU vets are meeting to consider the limited use of vaccinations in areas affected by foot and mouth to try and create a firewall to stop the disease from spreading.

Previously, the EU has ruled out a vaccination programme on the grounds that it would be costly and would strip European countries of their disease-free status, preventing them from exporting to some countries.

With the overall number of condemned animals in the UK now standing at 435,491, it means Britain is now close to officially declaring the current outbreak more damaging than the 1967 foot-and-mouth crisis when 442,000 animals were culled.

Scientists advising the British government have said the outbreak is likely to increase nearly 10-fold to 4,000 cases by June.

"The number of cases will rise steeply with rapid expansion in the existing areas in spite of current controls," a statement issued by the Minsitry of Agriculture said.

"Estimates vary from 70 cases a day over the next two weeks to over 4,000 cases by June, 2001."

Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was heckled by farmers as he visited Cumbria, one of the areas worst hit by the disease, is in Stockholm for the EU summit where he is expected to update his European colleagues on the emergency.

AUDIO Ireland's Agriculture Minister Noel Davern: Confident of containment 444kb/41secs. AIFF or WAV sound

Blair, who has told British ambassadors to get personally engaged in a "pro-active and vigorous campaign" to persuade the world that Britain is an attractive holiday destination, will also be delivering a "business as usual" message to the rest of Europe.

Byrne, speaking on the BBC programme Newsnight said: "Clear identification of animals that can transmit this kind of disease is absolutely essential and one of the ways of dealing with that most effectively is tagging the animals.

"It's a big task but look at the consequences of not having the capacity to identify the movements of sheep like this.

"If it is necessary for cross-border trade, it seems to me that it would not add a greater burden for internal trade as well.

"It is something that will have to be addressed. I know that farming bodies are somewhat resistant to this, but the advice I am getting from my people is that it should be done."

European Commission President Romano Prodi said there was little money in the bloc's 40 billion euro ($35.52 billion) annual farm budget -- already under strain from "mad cow" disease -- to offer farmers whose animals are slaughtered.

"I am willing to use all the resources available for the agricultural crises, but we have such strict budget limits (imposed) by the member states that we have no more resources available," Prodi said.

The UK Government has introduced its own £150 million ($225 million) welfare package for farmers affected by the outbreak.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said a fixed rate of "generous tariffs" would now be introduced to compensate farmers for those animals which have to be slaughtered even though they may not have the disease.

He said farmers would be paid up to 90 percent of the market value for animals and that the scheme would run for two months and only cover livestock genuinely deemed to be at risk of suffering unless slaughtered.

National Farmers' Union president Ben Gill, who agreed the principles of the welfare scheme with Blair, said: "We have fought hard to get these compensation payments. We hope farmers who need it will make use of the scheme."

Ireland ordered the suspension of animal product exports and extended a ban on the export of live animals as soon as its outbreak was confirmed.

Tissue samples from two sheep on a farm in County Louth, near the border with Northern Ireland, tested positive for the disease.

"This is a major disappointment given the intensity of our efforts to keep the disease out of the country," Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern told parliament on Thursday.

Irish Agriculture Minister Noel Davern told CNN: "All sheep within three kilometres (of the outbreak) will be slaughtered immediately.

"We have isolated the area totally and no animals are allowed in and out of that county at all under any circumstances.

"We have a disease control centre there already. We are confident we can contain it."

Professor Roy Anderson, a leading scientific adviser to the British Government, said the foot-and-mouth epidemic could rage on for many more months.

"I think everybody is in agreement ... that this epidemic is not under control at the current point of time," he said.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

Foot-and-mouth reaches Netherlands
Farmers say virus response 'too slow'
EU rejects virus vaccination plan
Cull goes on, says UK's chief vet
UK defends foot-and-mouth tactics

Foot-and-Mouth Disease
European Union
Dutch Ministry of Agriculture
UK Ministry of Agriculture
The European Commission
Swedish Presidency of the EU

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