-Caveat Lector- I find it hard to believe all these assorted problems with the food supply are mere coincidence. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20010223/sc/food_disease_dc_7.ht ml Friday February 23 8:58 PM ET Britain Urges No Meat Panic Buying After Disease By Giles Elgood LONDON (Reuters) - The British government has appealed to the public not to start panic buying meat after the country's livestock industry was brought to a standstill in a bid to curb a devastating outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The Agriculture Ministry effectively turned the whole of the British countryside into a massive exclusion zone on Friday, banning all movement of livestock for a week. There are currently six confirmed outbreaks of foot and mouth and inspectors are investigating hundreds more farms where the disease may have taken hold. Confirmation of the presence of the highly contagious virus, which affects pigs, cattle, sheep and goats, is a bitter blow for the British meat industry, which is only just recovering from the devastating effects of mad cow disease. Farms where the disease is confirmed prepared to burn hundreds of animals while surrounding areas were cordoned off by officials to prevent the spread of the infection. Vehicles were sprayed with disinfectant and visitors had to scrub their boots in buckets placed at every farm gate. The disease can be spread by the wind, on the wheels of vehicles and on human clothing. The army said it would suspend non-essential military training, countryside walkers were told to keep away from animals and fox- hunters up and down the country agreed to suspend their sport. The disease was first found on Tuesday among 28 pigs at an abattoir in Essex near London, prompting a world ban on exports of Britain's livestock and animals products. The apparent source of the outbreak was traced to a pig farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall in northeastern England, the Agriculture Ministry said. Farmer Devastated Farmer Bobby Waugh, 55, issued a statement through the National Farmers Union saying he was ``devastated'' but had noticed nothing wrong with his pigs. ``I honestly hadn't seen anything wrong with any of my pigs in the last few weeks. How could I report something I didn't see?'' He said officials had visited his farm after a complaint that his pigs were in poor condition but ``they found nothing wrong.'' There were fears that a week's ban on bringing animals for slaughter would lead to shortages of meat in shops and supermarkets. Agriculture Minister Nick Brown insisted on television that there was no need for panic buying. ``Everyone will be fed if they stick to their regular shopping patterns,'' he said. Brown said the government's priority was to stamp out the disease, which manifests itself in the shape of lesions on animals' muzzles and feet. It is not harmful to humans. It can spread quickly through livestock herds, making it difficult for cows to produce milk and prompting weight loss in other animals. Scottish authorities said they had discovered a possible case at a pig farm in Aberdeenshire, the first outside England. Ireland intensified efforts to prevent the disease crossing from the British province of Northern Ireland by calling on the army to support police patrols along the border. At European Union headquarters in Brussels, experts fear the disease is so contagious that it may yet spark an outbreak on the Continent, a nightmare scenario that could bring Europe's meat trade to its knees. -- "We forbid any course that says we restrict free speech!" --Dr. Kathleen Dixon, the Director of Women's Studies, Bowling Green State University It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument. -William G. McAdoo <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
