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Foot and Mouth - UK - August 2007           emails

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August 10/13 ~ Dairy herd on the Pirbright estate

August 10/13 ~ "VS recognizes the value of milk as a sample for FMD surveillance, as well as the value of this test in moving milk safely inside of quarantine zones.." The United States Animal Health Association

August 10/13 ~ More slaughter imminent - unless movement restrictions can be eased

August 10/13 ~ " the laboratory must move into the field and test animals quickly before irreversible actions are taken." ProMed

August 10/13 ~ "The government has a responsibility to use the technologies that can identify disease before signs appear if these technologies are available. They are available, and they are being used in the lab. ."

August 10/13 2007 ~ " Whilst hoping for the best, a point source, we should have taken precaution against the worst, a plume."

August 10/13 ~ FMD - uncomfortable issues still to answer

August 10/13 2007 ~ the role of rapid on-site RT-PCR during this outbreak

August 10/13 2007 ~ We fear a bad end and a wrong answer to the question of ultimate responsibility.

August 10 2007 ~" If the present policy is successful, it will be a measure of good luck in ignoring these two variables..."

August 10 2007 ~ Miserable news. We got so used to this in 2001...

August 10 2007 ~ "..we could still find ourselves in the bizarre situation where the meat on the shelves is imported from countries where Foot and Mouth Disease is prevalent "

August 10- 13 2007 ~ Suspect animals were to be monitored, not immediately culled on suspicion

August 10 2007 ~ " it has been decided not to vaccinate at this time."

August 10 2007 ~ Information about differentiation tests needs to be clearer. (Boring but very important)

August 10 2007 ~ NFU moves towards court case

August 10 2007 ~ New Case is NOT foot and mouth "I just wanted to be 100% sure"

August 10 2007 ~ A new possible case. A New Temporary Control Zone

August 10 2007 ~ Defra can find the time and money to send us all pointless bumph that we don't need, let alone have time to read, but when the countryside is hit with something like FMD we get absolutely nothing

August 9 ~ The Ministry knows best....

August 9 ~ Bad news that can't be buried

August 9 ~ "the worker bees at the local Defra office do try to be helpful, despite the insane orders they receive from headquarters..."

August 9 ~ Another twist - of the knife

August 9 ~ Updated questions and answers at DEFRA

August 9 ~ Dutch Socialist Party MP backs vaccination and calls for EU policy to be changed to make vaccination compulsory

August 9 ~ "Some days I've taken 12 showers" says Dr. John Copps, deputy director of the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnepeg

August 9 ~ New cull involves "suspected"cows - but also sheep, pigs and goats at a farm advertised as "free range"

August 9 ~ EU says restrictions are to stay in place at least until 25 August.

August 9 ~ Cracked Mirror

August 8 ~ Of course vaccination should have been the immediate reaction for all susceptible animals considered to be at risk.

August 8 ~ There's more at stake than paying compensation to farmers if Pirbright is found to be responsible for the leak

August 8 ~ Restrictions eased for movement to slaughter and for fallen stock for "certain parts of the country"

August 8 ~ Allotment is out of the picture

August 8 ~ Continued reliance on the NFU as an authority is perverting coverage

August 8 ~ Culling is solely to protect our beef export industry, whilst supermarkets happily continue importing beef from FMD endemic countries

August 8 ~ No punches pulled

August 8 ~ " I stopped eating my cornflakes and wondered how Catlow would respond.."

August 8 ~ Vets and government officials were last night debating whether to start vaccinating

August 8 ~ No news is good news

August 7/8 2007 ~ A prototype on-site rapid diagnostic machine is being used in Surrey

August 7/8 ~ Was it Bill or was it Ben?

August 7 2007 ~ The two farms' cleansing and disinfection is to be paid for, says Hilary Benn, "due to the exceptional circumstances"

August 7 2007 ~ HSE initial report statement released - accidental or deliberate human activity suspected

August 7 ~ The Netherlands order vaccine - and are inspecting every imported animal

August 7 ~ Media concentration on 'who is to blame' and mention of "compensation" is a red herring for decent farmers

August 7 2007 ~ Brigadier Birtwhistle can only cite "consumer confidence" as an argument against vaccination

August 7 2007 ~ "authorities will indeed find it easier to avoid massive stamping-out strategies." Bernard Vallat, Director General of the OIE

August 7 2007 ~ "... the classical scenario to use vaccination successfully without, in the long term, compromising the export status of the whole of the UK."

August 7 2007 ~" These cattle do not benefit at all from all the work on FMD vaccines done on their doorstep..."

August 7 2007 ~ Disposal -best scientific analysis deems it necessary to carry carcases 90 miles on roads?

UPDATE: We now hear that the closest incineration plant to the protection zone (Harry Hawkins) was unavailable because there were animals still on site "posing another disease risk, and logistical problems"; the second nearest shut down for repairs (Canterbury Mills); next closest actually was the Wessex plant in Frome. It would have been helpful if this had been made public.

August 7 2007 ~ Report by Health and Safety on Pirbright due very soon

August 7 2007 ~ There are 75 farms with 750 cattle, 1,500 sheep and 200 pigs in the Protection Zone - they could all be vaccinated within 24 hours

August 7 2007 ~ Consternation that Trading Standards in the Protection Zone have told farmers they may not close footpaths

August 7 2007 ~ ".... if a veterinary risk assessment shows that measures additional to the basic slaughter policy were required...."

August 7 2007 ~ "Who would notice the infection in deer? Does DEFRA have a plan?"

August 6/7 2007 ~ Not good news. Clinical signs found in another herd.
            NOW will you vaccinate?

August 6/7 2007 ~ CNN presenter says Vaccination hides disease -

August 6/7 2007 ~ Bio-security was "fairly relaxed"

August 6 2007 ~ As part of Defra's contingency plan and in order to ensure full preparedness, 300,000 doses of strain-specific vaccine have been ordered from the UK's vaccine bank, to be made up from antigen. No decision has been taken on whether or not to use the vaccine.

August 6 2007 ~" I am so fed up with the B...idiots who sent the FMD carcasses by road, 90 miles, when the rest of us have been told no movement."

August 6 2007 ~ "Because the animals were infected with the very vaccine strain itself, the vaccine should be the absolute perfect match."

August 6 2007 ~ 104 redundancies since 2005 - " a risk that we will lose critical expertise"

August 6 2007 ~ Still much to be revealed on virus escape

August 6 ~ Fallen stock

August 6 ~ Start date 29/07/2007? The Saturday before the Thursday?

August 6 ~ "We need to know much, much more about Pirbright."

August 6 2007 ~ "The UBI peptide-based vaccine/diagnostic system will be particularly attractive to FMD-free countries for defensive serosurveillance and for contingency plans for emergency vaccination in the event of an outbreak."

August 6 2007 ~ Did they shower? Did they ignore 3 or 5 day ruling?

August 6 2007 ~ " the case for a humane, civilised and scientifically sound policy has strengthened over the past few years to the point where it is beginning to look unassailable"

August 6 2007 ~ "Good that the Chair took soundings from different sectors. Less good was their reluctance to elucidate clearly the position re vaccination and on-site diagnostic testing..."

August 6 2007 ~ What is the difference between surveillance and protection zones

August 6 2007 ~ 39 animals only found positive so far. Contiguous culling instead of buffer zone vaccination is taking place

August 6 2007 ~"It doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to note that terrorists of various sorts would be quick to try to take advantage of any faults or lapses in standards "

August 5 2007 ~ This strain shows clinical signs quickly

August 5 2007 ~ "Who is actually deciding what happens?"

.

August 5 2007 ~ New on DEFRA

August 5 2007 ~ "Competence means more than ministerial dashes and urgent meetings..lessons also include being ready to vaccinate"

August 5 2007 ~ Confusion about the virus strain

August 5 2007 ~ "What is the function of a World Reference Laboratory... if not to advance the detection of virus infection and management of FMD epidemics?"

August 5 2007 ~ Pirbright: "... limited use of the strain at the Institute in recent weeks."

August 5 2007 ~ Accidents Happen - Security Breaches at Biocontainment Facilities

August 5 2007 ~ Humane slaughter?

August 5 2007 ~ Lawrence Wright notices an anomaly

August 5 2007 ~ Deer do not obey movement bans - and roe deer move between Pirbright and local farms.

August 4 2007 10.26 p.m. ~ It is a vaccine strain 01 BFS 67 (Correction:it is in fact O1 BFS 1860) - one that was being used at Pirbright in July

August 4 2007 9.45 p.m. ~ "no plans for contiguous culling at present but any dangerous contacts will be dealt with robustly". Pigs, sheep and goats on an adjacent smallholding have been slaughtered as "dangerous contacts"

August 4 2007 9.20 p.m. ~ Intervet UK: " If requested, we will provide the government with any necessary assistance to bring the outbreak under control."

August 4 2007 (5.50 pm) ~ " I must say, interviewing the chief vet I had a distinct sense of deja vu.." - Snowmail

August 4 2007 (4.50 pm) ~ Debby Reynolds has confirmed that the biosecurity arrangements at the Pirbright Laboratory are being investigated as a possible source of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

August 4 2007 ~ " We are really hoping that supermarkets make sure that their buyers and supplier processors act more responsibly this time...

August 4 2007 ~ The UK's refusal to use vaccination for FMD has been on economic rather than on scientific or veterinary grounds.

August 4 2007 ~ EU Directive "It may be decided to introduce emergency vaccination where at least one of the following conditions applies"

August 4 2007 3.40 pm ~ More quotes "We would not stand in any way to object to vaccination.."

August 4 2007 4.00 pm ~ EU member countries have imposed a ban on animals and animal products imported from the UK.

August 4 (2.20 p.m.) ~ The FMD infected carcases will be travelling to Somerset - even though there are incineration plants nearer to Guildford.

August 4 2007 (2.15 pm) ~ 3,000 sheep are stranded at Thame Auction Mart - precisely where the rapid on-site diagnostic kit would be so invaluable.

August 4 2007 (1.15pm) ~ "The 1.7 million tonnes of waste food that before 2001 was being recycled by swill feeders was diverted to landfill..."

August 4 2007 (1.15pm) ~ "Once the strain has been identified, experts will check to see whether relevant vaccines are available in the British or European vaccine banks."Guardian

August 4 2007 (12 .15 am) ~ Slightly revised email from CA Coordination Action

August 4 2007 (10.30 am) ~ "Farmers are being asked to inspect their animals for signs of infection. To what extent, if any, are animals being tested for virus?"

August 4 2007 (10.00 am) ~ Ring Vaccination and on-site diagnosis.

August 3/4 2007 ~ "Number 10 insisted contingency plans being put into place were based on lessons learnt from the 2001 outbreak..."

August 3 2007 ~ FMD confirmed in Surrey

August 3 2007 ~ Undiagnosed bovine vesicular disease in Surrey. Update "The lesions are in their mouth and this could just be something they have eaten"

August 3 2007 ~ Undiagnosed bovine vesicular disease in Surrey. "No timescale for results" Could this be bluetongue?

August 3 2007 ~ FMD vaccine "could be commercially viable and remove some of the hurdles in advance of any outbreak"

August 1 2007 ~ £11.5M of new research. More money. More scientific research. More progress?

July 28-31 2007 ~ Flood losses for farmers and landowners in affected areas could be worse than in the foot and mouth epidemic

July 28- 31 2007 ~ Germany opts to request derogation from the EU's BSE slaughter regulations

July 28- 31 2007 ~ Not a single one of the 1543 nasal mucosal samples .... including those from the 32 reactors found to have lung lesions - proved positive for m.bovis - but this is not mentioned in the ISG report.

July 26 2007 ~ ARC Addington Fund are trying to get water to livestock farmers

July26 2007 ~ No compensation for farmers devastated by floods

July 20 2007 ~ "scientists at the labs are also working on a new test for viruses, such as rabies, bird flu and foot and mouth disease, which could cut the time taken to confirm an outbreak from up to ten days to only a few hours..."

July 19 2007 ~ Forget vaccination. Soft music sells this "animal friendly, total culling concept"

July 18 2007 ~ A case of bluetongue in Belgium

July 15 - 21 2007 ~ ".. the option Skanda Vale have chosen is the difficult, long and expensive path."

July 15 - 21 2007 ~"....profitability should not be a priority when vaccination policies are established." Bernard Vallat

July 9 - 14 2007 ~ The ELA conference in October - the beginning of the first serious pan-European contribution to animal health policy development.

July 9 - 14 2007 ~ Reply to E-petition to scrap the fallen stock disposal scheme and reinstate on-farm burial as a green initiative

July 9 - 14 2007 ~ Repeating the mistakes of the past - "no dramatic fall in cattle reactors to show for the cattle carnage ..."

July 9 - 14 2007 ~ "If that degree of financial mismanagement had occurred in a public limited company, the board would have been out - never mind the chief executive."

June 25 2007 ~ ".... scientific experts must be accountable, not only to government ministers but also to other experts. To date, this has not occurred in the context of the 2001 epidemic. ..."

June 25 2007 ~ Thursday was the sixth anniversary of MAFF v Upton, the Grunty the Pig case

June 25 2007 ~ " I am forced to take action myself....I have launched a claim against Devon and Cornwall Police and DEFRA officials in the Courts"

."

June 22 2007 ~ "This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost..."

June 22 2007 ~ "...breeding for scrapie resistance has little or no impact on a number of commercial traits."

June 22 2007 ~ Fears expressed for the future of farming in the South West of England and other hotspot areas

June 20 2007 ~ "a further sad fact about science in the UK and in some other countries that the scientists' career is largely dependent upon him or her not antagonising the wishes of the main source of his funding -

June 19 2007 ~DEFRA had "taken a sledgehammer to crack the wrong nut" says Judge, but only DEFRA's one-sided version is picked up by journalists

June 18 2007 ~ "Agflation" - a warning

June 17 2007 ~ Scientists rule out return to badger culls

June 16 2007 ~ " It would be an absolute crime to put that animal down...."

June 15 2007 ~ The UK Government is still resisting the sensible amendments of the EU on BSE cohorts

15 June 2007 ~ ... the murky world of international trafficking, animal cruelty, black magic and even cannibalism..."

15 June 2007 ~ The Tenant Farmers Association has rejected Defra's latest plans on animal health and welfare policy

13 June 2007 ~ "We are committed to learning any lessons," says Ben Bradshaw

13 June 2007 ~ "I think we had to wait too long for the results."

12/ 13 June 2007 ~Rapid diagnosis via automated multiplexing platform: "we have always known that the platform's flexibility confers benefit in other markets, such as veterinary diagnostics and the monitoring of bioterror threats such as foot and mouth"

12 June 2007 ~ More coverage of EFSA's positive conclusions about bird flu vaccines

12 June 2007 ~ A "protecting virus" used to protect from new flu strains

12 June 2007 ~ "diagnostic equipment that can be used in the field and sensitive enough to detect virus in pre-clinical cases"

12 June 2007 ~ "The lack of a centralised, riskbased sampling and monitoring plan has compromised the import control system..."

12 June 2007 ~ "Cattle are killed anyway"

12 June 2007 ~ Bluetongue has re-emerged in Germany, according to the UK's Institute for Animal Health

11 June 2007 ~ Talk of vaccine supplies when the disease arrives is of little help - Fogging of poultry houses costs around 15p/bird annually and yet it is deadly to the H5N1 virus

June 8 2007 ~ Farmers kept in the dark over new case of Bluetongue

June 8 2007 ~ The TRACES (TRAde Control and Expert System) database was " not currently functional" on June 6th

June 8 2007 ~ Not all over. More H7N2 bird flu confirmed after Chelford market.

June 8 2007 ~ Opposition parties in the Welsh Assembly seem to want Jane Davidson, the new Welsh rural development minister, to give the order for Shambo to be killed

June 7 2007 ~ Indonesia's fear about possible mutation of the H5N1 virus has been countered by WHO's statement that they have 'seen no evidence' of this. Not surprising....

June 7 2007 ~"..the origin of the H7N2 avian influenza virus that initiated the outbreak in poultry in north Wales has not yet been traced further back than the market."

June 6 2007 ~ Avian Influenza " AI vaccines meet quality standards and are safe and effective in vaccination against AI in domestic flocks in Europe." EFSA.

June 5 2007 ~ "There are many Ministers who will not envy what will, no doubt, be one of Mrs Davidson's first jobs, and that is dealing with the issue of the TB-infected Skanda Vale bullock..."

June 5 2007 ~ Bovine TB - the whole system needs an overhaul from people on the ground (not the centre of London) who know what they are doing - but it seems that farmers are on their own

June 5 2007 ~ WHO report on H7N2 in Wales

June 4 2007 ~ "hundreds of independent farm stores are springing up, seeking to provide an alternative and cash in on shoppers' desire to be closer to the land.."

June 4 2007 ~ H7N2 " ... I think the authorities have behaved well over this H7N2 outbreak, the measures taken were proportionate."

June 4 2007 ~ " It is hoped that as these vaccines are rolled out around the world, that at last this damaging disease can be brought under control."

June 4 2007 ~ Mass cull of badgers - healthy or not - could now be on the cards

June 3 2007 ~ "The new product is the first FMD vaccine produced in the U.S....it could allow the federal government to plan a strategic stockpile in case of an outbreak".

June 3 2007 ~ "The results were due yesterday, (Thursday, May 31) but are now expected on Monday."

June 3 2007 ~ "the basic flaw of not calculating the effects of wind on GM pollen..."

June 2 2007 ~ Bovine TB: "while we do everything to minimise the risk on our farm from cattle-to-cattle contamination, nothing is being done to eradicate the spread from wildlife to cattle.."

May 30 2007 ~ US: Rapid diagnosis mobile laboratory to offer a rapid diagnosis for animal diseases like avian influenza, foot and mouth disease

May 30 2007 ~ H7N2 outbreak. No virus at the farm on the Llyn penisular - test result took three days to appear..

May 30 2007 ~ Dr. Marion Lyons : "Investigations also show that, when it spreads from person to person, the illness experienced becomes milder."

May 30 2007 ~ E-petition to scrap the fallen stock disposal scheme and reinstate on farm burial as a green initiative.

May 29 2007 ~ "a reminder that the next flu pandemic could be sparked by a virus other than the feared H5N1 strain..."

May 29 2007 ~ "It's not right these animals should be killed. They are breeding cows. They aren't to be sent for the human food chain."

May 28 2007 ~ While officialdom is full of reassurance, the latest H7N2 bird flu outbreak does not reassure us.

May 27 2007 ~ A 2nd possible case on the Llyn Peninsula, Gwynedd,

May 26 2007 ~ misleading claim that the "source" of the H7N2 outbreak has been "destroyed" appears on Sky News

May 26 2007 ~ A mutually beneficial system of livestock registration is urgently needed - Four human cases of mild bird flu confirmed.

May 25 2007 ~ "It's farcical. It makes it impossible for us farmers to even question what they are doing. They are bloodthirsty vigilantes who want rid of the cattle."

May 24 2007 ~ The strain identified is H7N2 low pathogenic avian influenza. Free range birds are not being moved indoors.

May 24 2007 ~ Tests are being carried out on dead birds in north Wales over fears of a possible bird flu outbreak.

May 23 2007 ~ Canada is stockpiling avian flu vaccines for poultry "vaccine would be something that might be used to be more effective and dampen down the opportunity for the disease to spread"

May 22 2007 ~ UK's unilateral decision to kill BSE cohorts - "This time they can't blame it on Brussels."

May 22 2007 ~ " robust and tested disease control plans"?

May 21 2007 ~ "perfect efficacy result" in trials of H5N1 flu vaccine

May 19 2007 ~ FMD continues to threaten the FMD disease-free areas of Europe.

May 19 2007 ~In 2000 the then CVO, Jim Scudamore, wrote a warning memo about "lack of progress on contingency planning exercises", lack of staff training and his worries about the "capability of the government's agents to deal with outbreaks of disease, in particular their ability to investigate the origin and spread".

May 17 2007 ~ Does the Dutch research really advocate culling pigs in any FMD outbreak rather than vaccinating?

May 16th 2007 ~ "even today I meet people who comment about the livestock bereft countryside and fail utterly to make the connection...."

May 15th ~ Bluetongue: " It was eventually revealed that the results of the sentinel surveillance were compromised by the inclusion of old, serologically positive animals."

May 15 2007 ~ The RPA needs to pay out about another £280m over the remaining seven weeks to meet its deadline this year

May 14 2007 ~ Parallels between the site inspections at Heddon on the Wall just before FMD and those at the Matthews plant just before the discovery of H5N1 are inescapable.

May 14th 2007 ~ "In the past two decades, veterinarians have helped to slaughter more than a billion so-called diseased animals to support factory farming and the edicts of global trade. .."

May 13 2007 ~ Bird Flu in Suffolk - The Hungarian Connection

May 13 2007 ~ Evidence suggests that China's farmers routinely misuse pesticides

May 11 - 13 2007 ~ Shambo - attitudes unfortunately polarised

May 11-13 2007 ~"another beacon lighting the Byzantium attitutudes from the government veterinary service and DEFRA "

May 11 2007 ~ Contaminated wheat gluten - still few answers

May 10 2007 ~ Credibility of TB tests is called into question

May 10 2007 ~ Killing the bull "in the usual way..... to protect animal health" is to be done "as sensitively as possible," , say officials

May 8 2007 ~ "She feels, he says, simultaneously hungry, tired, full up and sick."

May 8 2007 ~ Traceability "just a sick joke"

See also the 'Meat Crimes' pages which suggest that those willing, on our behalf, to take on the highly lucrative trade in unhealthy and illegally slaughtered meat are fighting a very lonely and often dangerous battle. Meanwhile, to the distress of many, DEFRA is planning the slaughter of a Hindu sacred bull, isolated in a temple in Wales. Shades of poor Harriet who was also a soft target. The hard targets - the meat crime criminals whose activities do actually threaten public health - seem to be left to the heroic few to tackle .

May 8 2007 ~ Rapid diagnosis of FMD "Several real-time PCR instruments are available with various capabilities, such as portability and high sample volume analysis."

May 7 2007 ~ "For any voluntary animal identification system to work, it must be constructed on simplicity, efficiency, compatibility, flexibility and trust...."

May 6 2007 ~ "...a disaster made incomparably worse by the callous incompetence of a Government which has treated our farmers like dirt."

May 3-6 2007 ~" If vaccination is seen as an option in contingency plans, the availability of vaccines needs to be addressed."

May 2 2007 ~ Testing was not complete until 14 days after the Bernard Matthews plant was re-opened.

May 2 2007 ~ "I am genuinely concerned that short term financial expediency brought about by the recent debacle within the Rural Payments Agency is what has brought this upon us."

May 2 2007 ~ The EU is sending 12.6 million euros to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi to fight foot and mouth disease

April 30 2007~ Questions must continue about the Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak

April 30 2007~ The mystery that still surrounds the Bernard Matthews avian flu case must continue to worry us - for several reasons

April 29 2007~ The Netherlands is angry at the bluetongue mix-up and its sequel

April 28 2007~ ".... further evidence that DEFRA in London is not fit for purpose...." .

April 27 2007~ "biosecurity considerations are always at the forefront of animal health and welfare policies," says Lord Rooker - but there is to be no proper risk analysis done to assess the hazards of the Fallen Stock Scheme - whose rationale is an out-of-date nonsense.

April 26 2007 ~ Bluetongue sentinel at Osnabrück - the wrong animal was sampled....

April 26 2007 ~ Contaminated pet food highlights issues for human food - and the competence of official agencies

April 25 2007 ~ "At least the FSA hasn't so far claimed that honey must be banned because it has discovered that bees can catch BSE. But we only need give them time."

April 25 2007 ~ Hungary denies any connection with UK bird flu outbreak

April 23 2007 ~"administrators are there to serve the country, not the other way round.... why should errors of policy, that have nothing to do with animal welfare, impinge upon the profession and its work in farm animal disease control and welfare?"

April 23 2007 ~ "Come on, open up in the name of the cow inspector"

April 23 2007 ~ " The Blight of Beckett persists. .."

April 22 - 23 2007 ~ "The virus cannot be transmitted between susceptible animals without the presence of the insect carriers...."

April 22 - 23 2007 ~ Osnabrück sentinal cow - admission of mix-up expected on Monday - after the damage has been done. "Please tell the world. I am still so angry"

April 22 - 23 2007 ~ Prince Charles defends "family farmers who have been on the land for generations and have priceless experience and wisdom of the sort which cannot be taught in a classroom, but which is absorbed and inherited."

April 22 - 23 2007 ~ Gordon Brown is to order owners of farm land and buildings to pay both council tax and business rates, ending a 78-year exemption.

April 20-22 2007 ~ "as with foot and mouth, the Government have failed to establish the cause of the outbreak of bird flu in Suffolk.."

April 20 2007 ~ Bluetongue. Moves to attack the midges would be more effective than transport restrictions

April 19/20 2007 ~".. we are left with the possibility that meat products from pre-clinically infected turkeys, infected from a common source with the Hungarian outbreaks in January 2007, might have been slaughtered and exported to the Holton site"

April 19 2007 ~ Ben Bradshaw: "The key to effective disease control is good surveillance, early detection and rapid response"

April 19 2007 ~ "Planning was tested by the avian influenza case in Suffolk earlier this year and it coped well..."

April 18/19 2007 ~ "It is not enough to have the odd pop-hole in the side of a shed, even if this ticks a box on a certification scheme."

April 18 2007 ~ Competition Commission findings into supermarket practices were expected to be made public in June, but now postponed until January 2008

April 17 2007 ~ End of brucellosis tests - another example of false economy?

April 16 2007 ~ "Mrs Beckett was arrogant beyond belief. When she became Foreign Secretary, I thought, "God help this country". ..."

April 14/15 2007 ~ Bluetongue. "What is required is rapid on-farm tests that can be done within a few hours, not a few days".

April 13 2007 ~"Mathematical modelling must be carried out as a multi-disciplinary process involving modellers, field epidemiologists, virologists etc .."

April 12 2007 ~ "Animal welfare is an issue of great importance for Europeans..."

April 12 2007 ~"We have a problem across the EU with vaccine policy. If governments do not provide a certain economic incentive [to produce the vaccines], industry won't develop them."

April 11 2007 ~ Bluetongue: " there will be multiple opportunities for it to come over"

April 10th 2007 ~ slaughter of the host is pointless. It is nothing to do with being "robust".

April 10 ~ "Gluing fly swats to cattle tails didn't do the trick..."

April 6th - 8th 2007 ~ "very simplistic modelling, and very easy to understand - but bears little relation to the heterogeneity present in the real world and to practical disease control measures"

Friday April 6th ~ The truth is in the field, not in the computer

Friday April 6th ~ wild birds and access to waste meat...should the law be changed?

Thursday April 5th ~ Phil Brown and his fight for justice

April 4 2007 ~ Harriet post mortem results BSE NEGATIVE

April 4 2007 ~ "Validation" - only when it suits...

April 4 2007 ~" ...what they are saying is inhuman, stupid and Neanderthal.."

April 4 2007 ~ The Milk Development Council shows that 17 dairy farmers a week have left farming in the past year

April 3 2007 ~ In order to reach the coveted "disease free without vaccination" Taiwan - free of the disease since 2001 - is halting the vaccination programme that made it disease free.

April 2 2007 ~ The FSA are not going to prosecute the Bernard Matthews factory - "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction "

April 2 2007 ~ "the BTV8 vaccine will require a temporary authorisation for exceptional circumstances. ."

April 1 2007 ~ New word in GovSpeak -"exemplification". It apparently means being sacked as an example to others - (unless of course you're at the top of the greasy pole)

March 31 2007 ~ Margaret Beckett is apparently "too busy with the Iran situation" to address the concerns of the EFRA Committee. She shifts responsibility back to the civil service.

March 30 2007 ~ Bluetongue vaccine - " Killing 'infected' holdings is utter nonsense"

March 30 2007 ~ Bluetongue - Is vaccination to kill yet again the only plan for the UK?

March 30 2007 ~ "DEFRA and the RPA must now publish a comprehensive reply to this report, demonstrating that they have learned from their many mistakes"

March 29 2007 ~ "Her apology is rather like a burglar who has entered the premises and run off with the swag before expressing anger that the accomplice smashed the window on the way."

March 29 2007 ~ Hardly surprising that Devon is particularly outspoken. That county, like other rural areas, has been so badly hurt by DEFRA.

March 29 2007 ~ "The Committee very much regrets the former Secretary of State's attempts verbally to distance herself from the consequences of policies which she herself must have approved "

March 28 2007 ~ "A clearly articulated business model; An innovative approach to citizen engagement. .."

March 28 2007 ~ The combined acronyms would form the phrase "It's civil shrewd mess"- but the new agency is, in fact, to be called "Animal Health" .

March 27 2007 ~ "Given that a key part of the remit of the FAO is to develop international agricultural trade, reticence to accept that this trade is the main agent of global dispersal of HPAI H5N1 is perhaps unsurprising."

March 26 2007 ~ "Within the area around the infected premises, there were enhanced levels of surveillance of wild birds."

March 26 2007 ~ As for the reality of "surveillance"

March 26 2007 ~ "Paradoxically, the H5N1 virus coupled with a fear of transmission by wild birds could lead to a reversion to battery farming which increases risk of outbreaks."

March 25 2007 ~ "The conference recommended that poultry should be vaccinated against avian influenza.."

March 25 2007 ~ "Well, Harriet had the last word."

March 22/23 2007 ~ Richard Sanders at Verona: "Well, I think we are winning the argument..."

March 22/23 2007 ~ Verona Conference - Vaccination: a tool for the control of Avian Influenza

March 21 2007 ~ "the main device under discussion at the meeting is a $1,000 mobile test system and reader the size of a small portable television"

March 21 2007 ~ "new life to the theory that mad cow disease started out in cattle, rather than crossing over from sheep."

March 2007 ~ The only innocent parties in the Dobbin story seem to have been the 583 slaughtered cattle

March 20 2007 ~ Sainsbury's responds to consumer concern about factory farming.

March 19 2007 ~ "As public concern about cruelty to farm animals grows, there has been a huge surge in demand for such eggs, which can cost as much as 80p a dozen more than battery hen products." Daelnet.uk

March 19 2007 ~ A variety of GM corn, legally imported into European Union countries since 2006, has produced signs of liver and kidney toxicity in rats

March 18/19 2007 ~ Electronic tagging: "The appropriate technology is simply not yet reliable"

March 18/19 2007 ~ If rules could really be shown to be based on common sense there would be no argument.

March 18 2007 ~ "His only alleged offence was "non-compliance" with complex bureaucratic procedures, to an extent which Defra still cannot specify".

March 16 2007 ~ "We have been as frivolous about food as we have been about the environment and the planet..."

March 16 2007 ~ Free vaccination for 95 percent of cattle in Venezuela

March 15 2007 ~ " I hate academia. Most of the scientists who work there are not free men any more and they can't speak out. That's no way to do science. "

March 15 2007 ~ a "key question"

March 15 2007 ~ Notes on the Defra FMD & CSF stakeholders' meeting on 28 February 2007

March 14/ 15 2007 ~ "Why are politicians so clueless when it comes to rural matters?" Magnus Linklater in the Times

March 14 2007 ~ Centralisation and "top-down" policies - the decline of local responsibility, good sense, economies, post officies, local services, the spread of Ghost Town Britain and the disappearance of democracy.

March 14 2007 ~ the five freedoms - "aspirations" rather than guarantees, it seems

March 14 2007 ~ UK farmers needed for window dressing

March 13/14 2007 ~ Rumours of warmwell.com's demise exaggerated...

March 10 2007 ~ "Prevention and control of avian influenza: the need for a paradigm shift

March 10 2007 ~ Agriculture ministers from six South American nations have agreed on a joint policy for improved cooperation in eliminating foot-and-mouth disease in the region

March 9 2007 ~"Together with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) we're working hard to learn all we can from this episode." Bernard Matthews

March 9 2007 ~"I wouldn't be surprised if the last thing David Miliband wanted to do was debate the performance of his department"

March 8 2007 ~ It would be useful know for certain that the Holton chicks were not infected via feed.

March 8 2007 ~ 93 tons of turkey meat from Hungary (unrecognised apparently by the TRACES database) were being processed in Holton at the height of the outbreak

March 8 2007 ~ ".. vaccination. It has been decried for years, but perhaps its time has come."

March 8 2007 ~ " Is it not time to abandon this Buzzword, "BIOSECURITY", so beloved by Defra and government".

March 7 2007 ~ " it is considered acceptable for us to risk contracting bird flu from our poultry"

March 7 2007 ~ "Certainly the Chinese can investigate what is going on in Guangdong and if their (poultry) plants there contribute to those strains, they could so something to intervene"

March 6 2007 ~ "Figures for imports into the United Kingdom of live day-old turkey chicks from outside the EU are not currently available. All consignments of live birds are liable to documentary and identity checks." Lord Rooker ( Hansard )

March 6 2007 ~ Hansard slip...

March 6 2007 ~"... what the remit is of the inquiry by his Department into the recent events at Bernard Matthews at Holton in Suffolk; and how the (a) proceedings and (b) conclusions of the inquiry will be communicated to the public"

March 6 2007 ~ Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London "made his name by advising government on tackling the spread of BSE and foot-and-mouth."

March 5 ~ "... the development of highly pathogenic strains of bird flu lies at the door of factory farming."

March 5 2007 ~ Avian influenza targets those without a voice - An enquiry should be conducted into the role of the global, intensive poultry industry in the spread of H5N1

March 5 2007 ~ Indonesia's actions "understandable" - poorer countries need affordable vaccines

March 3/4 2007 ~"The massive international movement of livestock and their products - the only possible beneficiaries of such unnecessary movements are a few powerful individuals ..The rest of us pay the price ."

March 3/4 2007 ~ UC Davis research study aimed to protect the US from foot-and-mouth disease

March 2 2007 ~ "If one cannot get to the bottom of how a disease has come in, it is not fair to expect the industry to carry the costs. "

March 2 2007 ~ Verona Conference. Ben Bradshaw says DEFRA "officials" will attend.

March 2 2007 ~ Local Suffolk free-range poultry owners astonished by "snippet" of news announcing the end of some restrictions

March 1 2007 ~ Parliamentary Question about recent imports from Hungary ignores assertion from DEFRA on January 24 2007

March 1 2007 ~ Why did DEFRA think that there had been no legal imports from Hungary at the time of the Hungary infection?

March 1 2007 ~ Yesterday "severe biosecurity shortfalls" and " poor hygiene practices" - today news of £600,000 compensation

February 28 2007 ~ "....we can't do anything to imperil that £370 million a year export trade, can we?"

February 28 2007 ~ Vaccinated animals do not go visiting unvaccinated ones

February 27/28 2007 ~ EU to set up emergency rapid reaction veterinary teams ready to move within 24 to 36 hours

February 27/28 2007 ~ Supermarket low prices spell doom for traditional dairy, beef and sheep farms

February 26 2007 ~ "it is timely to convene the best renowned experts to address the issue of global guidelines for vaccination"

February 25 2007 ~ Rapid Diagnosis for flu in birds: Multiplex test

February 23 2007 ~ "Stakeholders are currently talking to DEFRA about vaccination delivery. A third meeting should eventually be held..."

February 21/22 2007 ~ "There is little question that adequate vaccination will reduce shedding levels and thus the virus load.."

February 21/22 2007 ~ Vaccination of birds. Russia moves immediately. UK still dithers

February 21 2007 ~ It is imperative that the highly pathogenic H5N1 is stopped from circulating round the world. It is dangerous to expose humans and wild birds to infected domestic poultry.

February 21 2007 ~ 1.1 million tonnes of foreign pork, beef and lamb was imported into the UK in 2006

February 21 2007 ~ cavalier use of data in the Manchester Business School study on the environmental impact of organic farming

February 20 2007 ~ New Meat Byproducts: Avian Flu and Global Climate Change

February 20 2007 ~ Russia to vaccinate all birds near Moscow

February 19/20 2007 ~ "Where has the idea that there is long term circulation of H5N1 in a fully vaccinated flock in the absence of disease in the flock come from?"

February 19 2007 ~ David Miliband now says that poultry in the protection zone have been "sampled"

February 19/20 2007 ~ MEP: "PREMATURE RE-OPENING OF SUFFOK FARM BREACHES EU LAW"

February 19 2007 ~ "It was a complete mess with dead birds still lying around the site - and tatty, torn, blown out buildings and made Bobby Waugh's look like the Hilton."

February 19 2007 ~ enshrined, as if in amber, is the back-covering rider that vaccinated poultry may become infected