... wrote:

I\x{2019}ve been a complete idiot, I\x{2019}ve been sitting on information relevant to the origins of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak for three years.

I did not realise its significance.

The conspiracy theorists were right, FMD must have been present in the UK in the summer of 2000.

Maff-Defra did know and were covering it up, probably in the hope of retaining the prized \x{201C}Disease Free Status.\x{201D}

It is even possible to tell, within four days, when they first suspected problems.

PMWS and CSF (Swine Fever) were raging in August 2000 in East Anglia. Pigs were being slaughtered in their tens of thousands.

Maff were everywhere, but despite the problems, things were pretty calm.

It has already been long noted that there was a sudden change in their activities at the end of August. Maff started behaving very oddly\x{2026}and unpleasantly.

They were discretely examining cattle in South Norfolk, using pig related visits as an excuse to get onto mixed farms and smallholdings, then finding excuses to examine cattle heads and feet.

I did think it a bit odd that a top government vet, also wife of a cattle farmer, should be dancing about unsafely behind a cow, or that another should be showing so much interest in the same cow\x{2019}s eyesight on another visit.

They were supposed to be dealing with CSF in pigs, not messing about with cattle.

It wasn\x{2019}t PMWS or CSF they were looking for in cattle, was it?

No wonder complaints to the Select Committee went unanswered and threats were flying about.

Maff had found Foot and Mouth in pigs and were afraid it had spread to other species.

They were right weren't they?

Regards Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com

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