Here we go again

[multiveg]

Foot & Mouth
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6930684.stm

One way or another, its a bad year for farmers.

[Nicos]

No wonder farmers are packing up, or transforming their land into tourist -based use.
Anyone here living in/near the affected area??

[SarzWix]

Just caught that story on the news... I really hope that the lessons learned last time, make some difference this time. The area I live in, like a lot of others, suffered a double whammy - not only did it wreck a lot of farms/farmers and related businesses, but The Dales relies on tourists & walkers for income and as there was virtually nowhere to walk they all stayed away too.
I really hope they manage to contain it this time...
My heartfelt sympathies and best wishes go to anyone affected by this outbreak, and to all farmers in the UK, who have a totally bum deal IMHO.

[muckdiva]

Bad bad news. After all the rain which affected farmers so badly, this may be the last straw for some. Praying this is only an isolated outbreak, and that lessons learned from last time will mitigate some of the problems, but who knows.

Not in farming directly myself, but a lot of my friends are, and there will be a knock on effect for mine and many other countryside based businesses.

[kernowyon]

No wonder farmers are packing up, or transforming their land into tourist -based use.
Anyone here living in/near the affected area??

I currently live between Woking and Guildford, havn't really seen too much yet, they have put exclusion zone of 3km around farm. but no big pyres of burning aniamls yet!!! (can remember driving past okehampton on dartmoor during the last outbreak, and all you could see at night was big fires on the horizon and a terrible smell of burning in the air. not pleasant)

just been on the bbc website and they are quoting the animal reasearch lab in pirbright (thats the next village from us) as a possible source. will not be surprised if on my way home from work tomorrow morning, will start to see some evidence of cordons etc.

[multiveg]

The strain of f&m is the one found in vaccines.......

[Alice]

What happened in the last outbreak was horrific. I hope we never see anything like that again. I hope they can get all this contained so that farmers, the people depending on their livings from rural areas and the animals concerned are spared the horrors of the last outbreak.

[Rowan]

As it all seems to have got better again - let's hope - I'll post my little memory of last time. As the major outbreak was finally drawing to a close, I was on a train journey. In a nearby seat was a very small boy. He suddenly pointed out of the window, shouting "Foot and Mouth! Foot and Mouth!"
He'd seen ............ a flock of perfectly healthy sheep. For the rest of the journey, he kept excitedly reminding his parents, "I saw Foot and Mouth!". I've always wondered how long it took before he learned they're usually called "sheep"!