NBA advises all members to practice good biosecurity and be vigilant for
signs of disease. The latest information on the outbreak is available on
the Defra website at:
www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/
The attached documents provide useful advice and are also available for download from the Defra website at: www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/about/index.htm
FACTSHEET 1 — How to spot FMD
FACTSHEET 2 — Biosecurity — preventing the introduction and spread of FMD.
FACTSHEET 3 — What will happen when FMD is suspected or confirmed.
Customer Information Note GEN 07/200 : Foot and Mouth Disease
Declaration of a Protection Zone and Surveillance Zone - Foot and Mouth Disease
The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) has implemented its emergency procedures to ensure that all requests for help from farming families facing financial hardship as a result of the current foot and mouth movement restrictions will be processed without delay.
Following the announcement of the FMD outbreak in Surrey on Friday evening the RABI emergency team met this morning (Monday 6 August) to ensure that measures are in place to provide immediate relief to those in need. "We know from bitter experience how devastating the movement restrictions can be to livestock farmers for whom cash flow is critical", said RABI chief executive Paul Burrows.
"We are already providing support for those hit by the recent floods and we are especially concerned about the effect that the movement restrictions will have on those families in the flooded areas. We expect that the long-term effects, coupled with increased feed prices, will result in a considerable increase in the number of people suffering hardship."
RABI provides emergency funding to cover domestic expenses for farming families and considers all reasonable requests for financial assistance.
"During the 2001 FMD epidemic we helped more than 8,000 farming families, paying out some £9 million. In extreme cases we were able to turn round applications for help within 24 hours and if necessary we will be in a position to match that response", said Paul Burrows.
The RABI emergency helpline number - 01865 727888 - is currently manned during office hours (with a message facility out of hours). All calls are treated in the strictest confidence. The emergency team will be monitoring the situation and 24-hour manning will be introduced if required.
RABI is working in close cooperation with its partners in the Farming Help Partnership, Farm Crisis Network and The ARC-Addington Fund, to ensure that there is support available for all those in need in the farming community.
A dangerous Contact is being culled approx 100 pigs, a few sheep and cattle.
An announcement is expected at about 3 pm today on fallen stock and move to slaughter. Formal notification will be on the DEFRA website and we expect to forward this to you by email later today. The announcements are expected to be effective from midnight tonight and will apply to the Restricted Zone (RZ) across Great Britain but does not apply to the Protection Zone (PZ) or Surveillance Zone (SZ)
These adjustments are interim measures based on the risk and to ease problems for the industry. They are NOT a relaxation of the rules and will therefore require increased vigilance by surveillance by the industry to ensure that we are taking forward not backward steps. This is a serious responsibility test for the industry by the new Secretary of State and a chance for the industry to demonstrate competence without over regulation.
TB testing continues in England and Animal Health (AH) (was SVS) remain responsible for it and are permitted to allow gathering of cattle for test under their (A ) close supervision.
