Jiglu: Farmtalking: Discussion: I COULD HAVE STOPPED FMD

Originally from: Pat Gardiner

Pat's Note: Frankly, I now expect the most determined efforts to keep me away from the new inquiry.

I can only rely on you, my friends, to see that they do not succeed.

To be honest, I'm more than a bit frightened.

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=103343&command=displayContent&sourceNode=103332&contentPK=9091190

I COULD HAVE STOPPED FMD

09:00 – 05 March 2004

A government vet admitted that if it were not for his blunders, the devastating 2001 foot and mouth disaster may never have happened.

The revelation led to renewed calls last night for wide-ranging compensation and a full public inquiry into the epidemic.

The WMN has seen a document written by the vet who inspected the Northumberland farm of Bobby Waugh just days before the first case of the disease was discovered there on February 19, 2001.

Jim Dring, a veterinary officer with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff), admitted his failings led to the outbreak.

Around a fortnight before the first outbreak on Mr Waugh's pig farm, Mr Dring renewed the farmer's swill feeding licence.

In a document apparently submitted to the Anderson Inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis, the vet wrote: "Had this inspection been more rigorous than it was, had the licence not been renewed, or renewed only subject to radical revision of the Waughs' patently deficient feeding technique, then this awful 2001 foot and mouth epidemic would never have come about."

The investigation conducted by Dr Iain Anderson was criticised because interviews with officials and Ministers – including Prime Minister Tony Blair – were carried out behind closed doors.

Although the vet's statement is headed "To: The Anderson Inquiry", no mention of it was made in the inquiry's report.

Mr Dring yesterday said that he stood by what he wrote in the document, dated October 5, 2001. But he stressed that the two pages seen by the WMN were only a small part of a 27-page report.

The WMN contacted Maff's successor, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) yesterday, but was unable to obtain the full document.

Although it cannot be placed into context, because of the lack of the other pages of Mr Dring's submission, his final paragraph reads: "Whatever their thinking and whatever their behaviour, there must have been a reason, some reason, why that seems or seemed valid to the Waughs.

"That such a reason might occur to them but not (until too late) to me, their Maff inspector, constitutes a failure of the imagination on my part which, allied to the failures of perception noted above, is hard to forgive.

"After all, a mere ten days before foot and mouth virus was introduced into this pig herd, and at a time when illicit feeding practices were clearly in train, and had been for some time, I inspected this premises with a view to renewing the Waughs' Article 26 licence.

"Had this inspection been more rigorous than it was, had the licence not been renewed, or renewed only subject to radical revision of the Waughs' patently deficient feeding technique, then this awful 2001 foot and mouth epidemic would never have come about. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, and between that and total blindness is a long way.

"All the same, my feeling now, eight months on, is that in January 2001 I tended more to the latter than the former, with consequences which could scarce have been worse."

Robert Persey, a former East Devon pig farmer who backed the attempt in 2002 to force a public inquiry through the High Court, provided the WMN with a copy of the document.

He said by showing that a member of Maff staff may have been responsible for the spread of foot and mouth, it supported the legal battle of swill feeders driven out of business when the use of swill was banned in the wake of the outbreak.

Guy Thomas-Everard, whose family successfully defeated attempts to carry out a cull at their Exmoor farm, said the disclosure was "extraordinary".

He added: "The first thing I think is that this is why they didn't want a public inquiry – they didn't want this coming out. The whole thing was caused by human error, it would seem."

Andrew George, MP for St Ives and the Lib-Dem rural affairs spokesman, said Mr Dring's report was a "fundamental piece of information" that should have been put in the public domain. He added that the revelation raised questions about the "robustness" of the Anderson Inquiry.

Martin Hann, Devon chairman of the National Farmers' Union, said: "A public inquiry would probably have brought this document to light much earlier. The whole industry knows how badly it was handled."

A Defra spokesman said: "There is nothing new in this allegation. These issues have been raised before on a number of occasions.

"Jim Dring's primary role as a state veterinary service vet was to check the welfare of the animals on the farm, and the stock welfare at the time of his last visit prior to the foot and mouth outbreak was satisfactory."

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

Originally from: Farmtalking

That's very interesting too Pat and one has to admire Jim Dring as a vet who has the courage to admit he may have failed and accept responsibilty what he considers may well have his failings.

However, I and others, are none too sure that like Bobby Waugh, Jim Dring seems a suitable scapegoat!

There are quite a few who believe FMD was here long before Feb 2001 and they may well be right; but starting from Bobby's farm because of Jim's incompetance? I don't think so! – Do you?

Author wrote:
Pat's Note: Frankly, I now expect the most determined efforts to keep me away from the new inquiry.
I can only rely on you, my friends, to see that they do not succeed.
To be honest, I'm more than a bit frightened.
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=103343&command=displayContent&sourceNode=103332&contentPK=9091190
I COULD HAVE STOPPED FMD
09:00 – 05 March 2004
A government vet admitted that if it were not for his blunders, the devastating 2001 foot and mouth disaster may never have happened.
The revelation led to renewed calls last night for wide-ranging compensation and a full public inquiry into the epidemic.
The WMN has seen a document written by the vet who inspected the Northumberland farm of Bobby Waugh just days before the first case of the disease was discovered there on February 19, 2001.
Jim Dring, a veterinary officer with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff), admitted his failings led to the outbreak.
Around a fortnight before the first outbreak on Mr Waugh's pig farm, Mr Dring renewed the farmer's swill feeding licence.
In a document apparently submitted to the Anderson Inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis, the vet wrote: "Had this inspection been more rigorous than it was, had the licence not been renewed, or renewed only subject to radical revision of the Waughs' patently deficient feeding technique, then this awful 2001 foot and mouth epidemic would never have come about."
The investigation conducted by Dr Iain Anderson was criticised because interviews with officials and Ministers – including Prime Minister Tony Blair – were carried out behind closed doors.
Although the vet's statement is headed "To: The Anderson Inquiry", no mention of it was made in the inquiry's report.
Mr Dring yesterday said that he stood by what he wrote in the document, dated October 5, 2001. But he stressed that the two pages seen by the WMN were only a small part of a 27-page report.
The WMN contacted Maff's successor, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) yesterday, but was unable to obtain the full document.
Although it cannot be placed into context, because of the lack of the other pages of Mr Dring's submission, his final paragraph reads: "Whatever their thinking and whatever their behaviour, there must have been a reason, some reason, why that seems or seemed valid to the Waughs.
"That such a reason might occur to them but not (until too late) to me, their Maff inspector, constitutes a failure of the imagination on my part which, allied to the failures of perception noted above, is hard to forgive.
"After all, a mere ten days before foot and mouth virus was introduced into this pig herd, and at a time when illicit feeding practices were clearly in train, and had been for some time, I inspected this premises with a view to renewing the Waughs' Article 26 licence.
"Had this inspection been more rigorous than it was, had the licence not been renewed, or renewed only subject to radical revision of the Waughs' patently deficient feeding technique, then this awful 2001 foot and mouth epidemic would never have come about. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, and between that and total blindness is a long way.
"All the same, my feeling now, eight months on, is that in January 2001 I tended more to the latter than the former, with consequences which could scarce have been worse."
Robert Persey, a former East Devon pig farmer who backed the attempt in 2002 to force a public inquiry through the High Court, provided the WMN with a copy of the document.
He said by showing that a member of Maff staff may have been responsible for the spread of foot and mouth, it supported the legal battle of swill feeders driven out of business when the use of swill was banned in the wake of the outbreak.
Guy Thomas-Everard, whose family successfully defeated attempts to carry out a cull at their Exmoor farm, said the disclosure was "extraordinary".
He added: "The first thing I think is that this is why they didn't want a public inquiry – they didn't want this coming out. The whole thing was caused by human error, it would seem."
Andrew George, MP for St Ives and the Lib-Dem rural affairs spokesman, said Mr Dring's report was a "fundamental piece of information" that should have been put in the public domain. He added that the revelation raised questions about the "robustness" of the Anderson Inquiry.
Martin Hann, Devon chairman of the National Farmers' Union, said: "A public inquiry would probably have brought this document to light much earlier. The whole industry knows how badly it was handled."
A Defra spokesman said: "There is nothing new in this allegation. These issues have been raised before on a number of occasions.
"Jim Dring's primary role as a state veterinary service vet was to check the welfare of the animals on the farm, and the stock welfare at the time of his last visit prior to the foot and mouth outbreak was satisfactory."
Regards Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com

Originally from: PoppaC

Sorry Pat/Everyone, I know it was a traumatic time for all involved but this vet Dring is being used (again) to deflect the true cause of FMD. Let me say I do not know the answer either but looking at the evidence in hindsight (20/20) I believe he is liar!

Read these reports again and without bias against the Waughs who had been pig farmers and around pigs for over fifty years.

http://131.104.232.9/animalnet/2002/5–2002/animalnet_may_9–2.htm

http://farmtalking.org/news-waugh-9&10.htm

http://farmtalking.org/news-waugh-11.htm
Defence expert denies Waughs guilt and criticised vet/Maff conclusions.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/army42901.cfm

http://www.davidicke.com/icke/articles3/footmouth15.html

http://www.faringdon.org.uk/WARMWELL/inbox.html

Hoo Roo

Norm

Yahoo! Messenger – Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now

Originally from: Pat Gardiner

No, I really don't. I've always been hard on all vets, because it is their job to clean up their profession, not mine, and there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for failing to take action themselves.

BUT, that said, there are degrees of culpability. The missing pages will probably say "I was told to do it." and mention PMWS.

I very strongly suspect that the SVS vets were instructed
to "use their discretion." The SVS did not want the PMWS epidemic exposed.

We now know with absolute certainty that our pigs were killed because of "proximity to a CSF case. "

That farm had had PMWS for quite some weeks and it had masked CSF.

No problem proving that, we have the documentary evidence, although it was never admitted by Maff.

I suspect our "mad vet" may well have been involved
there, but have no firm evidence. We do know she was at other infected sites in the vicinity around that time.

Anyway, I suspect we are now well on our way to getting at the truth. We may get some compensation for some of the small farmers about here that lost everything.

Regards
Pat Gardiner

-----Original Message-----
From: ...
Originally from: ... [...] Sent: 05 March 2004 20:29 I very strongly suspect that the SVS vets were instructed
to "use their discretion." The SVS did not want the PMWS epidemic exposed.
We now know with absolute certainty that our pigs were killed because of "proximity to a CSF case. "
That farm had had PMWS for quite some weeks and it had masked CSF.
No problem proving that, we have the documentary evidence, although it was never admitted by Maff.
I suspect our "mad vet" may well have been involved
there, but have no firm evidence. We do know she was at other infected sites in the vicinity around that time.
Anyway, I suspect we are now well on our way to getting at the truth. We may get some compensation for some of the small farmers about here that lost everything.
To: ...
Subject: [farmtalking] RE: I COULD HAVE STOPPED FMD
That's very interesting too Pat and one has to admire Jim Dring as a vet who has the courage to admit he may have failed and accept responsibilty what he considers may well have his failings.
However, I and others, are none too sure that like Bobby Waugh, Jim Dring seems a suitable scapegoat!
There are quite a few who believe FMD was here long before Feb 2001 and they may well be right; but starting from Bobby's farm because of Jim's incompetance? I don't think so! – Do you?
Author wrote:
Pat's Note: Frankly, I now expect the most determined efforts to keep
me away from the new inquiry. I can only rely on you, my friends, to
see that they do not succeed. To be honest, I'm more than a bit
frightened.
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=103343&command=displayCo
ntent&sourceNode=103332&contentPK=9091190
I COULD HAVE STOPPED FMD
09:00 – 05 March 2004
A government vet admitted that if it were not for his blunders, the
devastating 2001 foot and mouth disaster may never have happened.
The revelation led to renewed calls last night for wide-ranging
compensation and a full public inquiry into the epidemic.
The WMN has seen a document written by the vet who inspected the
Northumberland farm of Bobby Waugh just days before the first case of the disease was discovered there on February 19, 2001.
Jim Dring, a veterinary officer with the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food (Maff), admitted his failings led to the outbreak.
Around a fortnight before the first outbreak on Mr Waugh's pig farm, Mr
Dring renewed the farmer's swill feeding licence.
In a document apparently submitted to the Anderson Inquiry into the foot
and mouth crisis, the vet wrote: "Had this inspection been more rigorous than it was, had the licence not been renewed, or renewed only subject to radical revision of the Waughs' patently deficient feeding technique, then this awful 2001 foot and mouth epidemic would never have come about."
The investigation conducted by Dr Iain Anderson was criticised because
interviews with officials and Ministers – including Prime Minister Tony Blair – were carried out behind closed doors.
Although the vet's statement is headed "To: The Anderson Inquiry", no
mention of it was made in the inquiry's report.
Mr Dring yesterday said that he stood by what he wrote in the document,
dated October 5, 2001. But he stressed that the two pages seen by the WMN were only a small part of a 27-page report.
The WMN contacted Maff's successor, the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Defra) yesterday, but was unable to obtain the full document.
Although it cannot be placed into context, because of the lack of the
other pages of Mr Dring's submission, his final paragraph reads: "Whatever their thinking and whatever their behaviour, there must have been a reason, some reason, why that seems or seemed valid to the Waughs.
"That such a reason might occur to them but not (until too late) to me,
their Maff inspector, constitutes a failure of the imagination on my part which, allied to the failures of perception noted above, is hard to forgive.
"After all, a mere ten days before foot and mouth virus was introduced
into this pig herd, and at a time when illicit feeding practices were clearly in train, and had been for some time, I inspected this premises with a view to renewing the Waughs' Article 26 licence.
"Had this inspection been more rigorous than it was, had the licence not
been renewed, or renewed only subject to radical revision of the Waughs' patently deficient feeding technique, then this awful 2001 foot and mouth epidemic would never have come about. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, and between that and total blindness is a long way.
"All the same, my feeling now, eight months on, is that in January 2001 I
tended more to the latter than the former, with consequences which could scarce have been worse."
Robert Persey, a former East Devon pig farmer who backed the attempt in
2002 to force a public inquiry through the High Court, provided the WMN with a copy of the document.
He said by showing that a member of Maff staff may have been responsible
for the spread of foot and mouth, it supported the legal battle of swill feeders driven out of business when the use of swill was banned in the wake of the outbreak.
Guy Thomas-Everard, whose family successfully defeated attempts to carry
out a cull at their Exmoor farm, said the disclosure was "extraordinary".
He added: "The first thing I think is that this is why they didn't want a
public inquiry – they didn't want this coming out. The whole thing was caused by human error, it would seem."
Andrew George, MP for St Ives and the Lib-Dem rural affairs spokesman,
said Mr Dring's report was a "fundamental piece of information" that should have been put in the public domain. He added that the revelation raised questions about the "robustness" of the Anderson Inquiry.
Martin Hann, Devon chairman of the National Farmers' Union, said: "A
public inquiry would probably have brought this document to light much earlier. The whole industry knows how badly it was handled."
A Defra spokesman said: "There is nothing new in this allegation. These
issues have been raised before on a number of occasions.
"Jim Dring's primary role as a state veterinary service vet was to check
the welfare of the animals on the farm, and the stock welfare at the time of his last visit prior to the foot and mouth outbreak was satisfactory."
Regards Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com

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Originally from: Pat Gardiner

Pat's Reply.

Norm, Of course, this is not the full story, Dring put in 30 pages, 28 of which have gone missing. I don't believe a word of what we were told today.

Read Warmwell, Mary C is good on the kind of detail that leaves me cold and gets everyone else excited.

Me? I just saw the whites of their eyes and know **** when I see it

Regards Pat

Originally from: Farmtalking

Mary and Norm are quite right!

The Bobby Waugh Trial was reported daily on Farmtalking and picked up and copied elsewhere on other websites and in the media. Those reports remain on the Farmtalking website as Norm has indicated.

The Western Morning News and the news media in the UK are well aware of the existance of farmtalking and I've no doubt of Warmwell too!

However, journalist who were around at the time may well have moved on and those writing today are quite unaware of events in the past and are often unwilling to thoroughly reseach them!

I'm sure none of us fall into that category!

Author wrote:
March 2 – 6 ~ Jim Dring says "I could have prevented FMD" – but could he?
A document, apparently submitted to the Anderson Inquiry into the foot and
mouth crisis, is the subject of two articles today, one in the Western
Morning News and the other in Farmers Weekly. The statement, by the MAFF vet
Jim Dring, is headed "To: The Anderson Inquiry" – but no mention of it was
made in the inquiry's report.
It will be remembered by many readers of warmwell that Bobby Waugh claimed
that on confirmation of FMD being present on Friday 23rd February, Jim Dring
went into one shed and stated that certain pigs had been infected for four
weeks. When told that this would have taken the date of infection to the
time that he carried out his annual inspection on 24th January, Bobby Waugh
claimed that Jim Dring changed his estimation to three and two weeks.
The news articles quote Jim Dring apparently apologising for his own
negligence in renewing Waugh's swill feeding licence. In fact, he is
indirectly asserting that Waugh's farm was the index case for the outbreak
and that Bobby Waugh was to blame for the outbreak. However unpleasant
conditions on Burnside Farm farm were, it was never suggested, even at the
trial, that Bobby Waugh somehow introduced FMD into the UK. No evidence has
come to light to prove the origin of the 2001 outbreak – even though Waugh
is widely accepted as the culprit.
During Bobby Waugh's trial, Mr Jeremy Stuart-Smith QC asked Mr Dring to
explain how he had continued to licence the premises, and to explain how he
had continued to file his six-monthly reports, over a number of many years,
by 'ticking' the box marked, 'Satisfactory' ...(
http://www.warmwell.com/may11waugh.html) Mr Dring himself authorised the
feeding of unprocessed swill to Bobby Waugh's pigs.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Poppa Crispin" <...>
To: <...>; <...>;
<...>
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 11:14 PM
Subject: [farmtalking] RE: I COULD HAVE STOPPED FMD
Sorry Pat/Everyone, I know it was a traumatic time for all involved but
this vet Dring is being used (again) to deflect the true cause of FMD. Let
me say I do not know the answer either but looking at the evidence in
hindsight (20/20) I believe he is liar!

Read these reports again and without bias against the Waughs who had been
pig farmers and around pigs for over fifty years.

http://131.104.232.9/animalnet/2002/5–2002/animalnet_may_9–2.htm
http://farmtalking.org/news-waugh-9&10.htm
http://farmtalking.org/news-waugh-11.htm
Defence expert denies Waughs guilt and criticised vet/Maff conclusions.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/army42901.cfm
http://www.davidicke.com/icke/articles3/footmouth15.html
http://www.faringdon.org.uk/WARMWELL/inbox.html
Hoo Roo
Norm
Yahoo! Messenger – Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today!
Download Messenger Now
--
If you want to share pictures, use the calendar, or start a vote
visit http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/farmtalking
To leave the group, email: ...

Originally from: Mary Critchley

March 2 – 6 ~ Jim Dring says "I could have prevented FMD" – but could he?
A document, apparently submitted to the Anderson Inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis, is the subject of two articles today, one in the Western Morning News and the other in Farmers Weekly. The statement, by the MAFF vet Jim Dring, is headed "To: The Anderson Inquiry" – but no mention of it was made in the inquiry's report.
It will be remembered by many readers of warmwell that Bobby Waugh claimed that on confirmation of FMD being present on Friday 23rd February, Jim Dring went into one shed and stated that certain pigs had been infected for four weeks. When told that this would have taken the date of infection to the time that he carried out his annual inspection on 24th January, Bobby Waugh claimed that Jim Dring changed his estimation to three and two weeks.
The news articles quote Jim Dring apparently apologising for his own negligence in renewing Waugh's swill feeding licence. In fact, he is indirectly asserting that Waugh's farm was the index case for the outbreak and that Bobby Waugh was to blame for the outbreak. However unpleasant conditions on Burnside Farm farm were, it was never suggested, even at the trial, that Bobby Waugh somehow introduced FMD into the UK. No evidence has come to light to prove the origin of the 2001 outbreak – even though Waugh is widely accepted as the culprit.
During Bobby Waugh's trial, Mr Jeremy Stuart-Smith QC asked Mr Dring to explain how he had continued to licence the premises, and to explain how he had continued to file his six-monthly reports, over a number of many years, by 'ticking' the box marked, 'Satisfactory' ...( http://www.warmwell.com/may11waugh.html) Mr Dring himself authorised the feeding of unprocessed swill to Bobby Waugh's pigs.

Originally from: Bill

The notion that FMD originated at Bobby Waugh's farm is TOTAL NONESENSE.

Every indication is that FMD had been around for some months reached Bobby Waugh's place in bones and offal he obtained from Cheale Meats to feed to his pigs.

Large quantities of larger bones that the pigs were unable to consume were being burned and it was the stench from burning bones that had caused Waugh's place to be monitored by Morpeth Environmental Health since July 2000.

If you remember Bobby was adamant FMD hadn't come from the Chinese restaurant, presumably because he knew full well where it had come from.

Bill.

Originally from: PoppaC

Hi All,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3539485.stm
<snip>
A National Farmers Union spokeswoman said the NFU would not be considering whether to renew its call for compensation until it had seen the report. <end_snip>

With all the controversy regarding compensation payouts and Defra's stalling tactics, I wonder if this released statement by Dring has something to do with government deflecting responsibility. They are capable of such subterfuge!

Hoo Roo

Norm

Author wrote:
http://farmtalking.org/news-waugh-9&10.htm
Under oath:
<snip>
Mr Waugh was asked how he believed the disease got into his herd and replied, "I don't know but its been in the sheep for a long time. I'd burned some sheep in my farm just prior to this that belonged to a friend of Mr Leadbitter."
<end_snip>
BTW where was Dring? Did he only check Waugh's pigs and not his sheep?
http://www.faringdon.org.uk/WARMWELL/inbox.html
<snip>
Tonight I talked to a friend who farms in the Borders and who has dealt with the Waugh's over the years. He says while they are rather chaotic, they are not ill intentioned and are most definitely not responsible for initiating the outbreak. They do feed swill, but so does a neighbouring farm, and they do so from the same supplier. However only the Waugh's farm got the disease, the other was killed out as a Dangerous Contact.....................(another)IF the source of the outbreak was a pig farm in Northumberland , then WHY was it that the North East of England , the East of Scotland , and the East of England were not the areas decimated . IF as the Authorities claim , there was a delay in the onset of the disease being reported , then with the ability of pigs to produce incredible columns of virus these areas should have been those hit first and hardest . IF the source was a pig farm , why does this form of the virus attack sheep first , cattle second , and pigs last .
June 2 2001
<end_snip>
==================================
Hoo Roo
Norm
Author wrote:
The notion that FMD originated at Bobby Waugh's farm is TOTAL NONESENSE.
Every indication is that FMD had been around for some months reached Bobby
Waugh's place in bones and offal he obtained from Cheale Meats to feed to his
pigs.
Large quantities of larger bones that the pigs were unable to consume were
being burned and it was the stench from burning bones that had caused Waugh's
place to be monitored by Morpeth Environmental Health since July 2000.
If you remember Bobby was adamant FMD hadn't come from the Chinese
restaurant, presumably because he knew full well where it had come from.
Bill.

Originally from: PoppaC

http://farmtalking.org/news-waugh-9&10.htm

Under oath:
<snip>
Mr Waugh was asked how he believed the disease got into his herd and replied, "I don't know but its been in the sheep for a long time. I'd burned some sheep in my farm just prior to this that belonged to a friend of Mr Leadbitter." <end_snip>
BTW where was Dring? Did he only check Waugh's pigs and not his sheep?

http://www.faringdon.org.uk/WARMWELL/inbox.html

<snip>
Tonight I talked to a friend who farms in the Borders and who has dealt with the Waugh's over the years. He says while they are rather chaotic, they are not ill intentioned and are most definitely not responsible for initiating the outbreak. They do feed swill, but so does a neighbouring farm, and they do so from the same supplier. However only the Waugh's farm got the disease, the other was killed out as a Dangerous Contact.....................(another)IF the source of the outbreak was a pig farm in Northumberland , then WHY was it that the North East of England , the East of Scotland , and the East of England were not the areas decimated . IF as the Authorities claim , there was a delay in the onset of the disease being reported , then with the ability of pigs to produce incredible columns of virus these areas should have been those hit first and hardest . IF the source was a pig farm , why does this form of the virus attack sheep first , cattle second , and pigs last .

June 2 2001
<end_snip>