Pig is tested for foot-and-mouth

Originally from: Farmtalking
                        
Pig is tested for foot-and-mouth

"Vets are investigating a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at an abattoir in Essex where the 2001 outbreak was first discovered. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said tests were being carried out on a pig at Cheale Meats abattoir near Brentwood.

The abattoir is closed, and farmers are being told of a ban on livestock movements within a five mile radius.

The results of the tests could be known later in the day.

The BBC Radio 4 programme, Farming Today, said samples from the pig, which had a blistered nose, had been sent to the Institute of Animal Health laboratories in Surrey.

Vets are also investigating the possibility the pig may have swine vesicular disease.

The symptoms of swine vesicular disease in pigs are clinically indistinguishable from those of foot and mouth disease, according to the Defra website.

A routine inspection at Cheale Meats in February 2001 found signs of foot-and-mouth disease in 27 pigs."

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/essex/6090226.stm

Published: 2006/10/27 07:28:51 GMT