REPORT OF THE

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY ON

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

 

1968

 

PART TWO

 

 

 

Presented to Parliament by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

By Command of Her Majesty

December 1969

 

 

 

 

 

 

LONDON

HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE

 

12s. 6d. [62=p] net

Cmnd. 4225

 

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY ON

FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE

 

MINUTE OF APPOINTMENT

 

I hereby appoint

             The Duke of Northumberland, K.G.,T.D., J.P.

A.     Cripps, Esq., D.S.O., T.D., Q.C.

Professor D. G. Evans, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.C.Path., F.R.S.

C. H. Plumb, Esq.

Sir Edward Thompson, M.B.E., T.D.

Professor D. Walker, M.A.

Professor Sir William L. Weipers, B.Sc., F.R.C.V.S., D.V.S.M.,

              F.R.S.E

 

to be a Committee to review the policy and arrangements for dealing with               foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain and to make recommendations.

 

I   further   appoint   the   Duke of   Northumberland   to   be Chairman   of   the

Committee and Mr. J. N. Jotcham   to   be Secretary, and   Mrs. M. D. White   to

be Assistant Secretary of the Committee.

 

 

                                                          (Sgd.)      FREDERICK PEART

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

 

28th February, 1968.

 

 

         

 

In addition to the above I hereby appoint

E. L. Thomas, Esq., L.L.B., J.P.

    to be an additional member of the Committee.

 

                                                         (Sgd.)       CLEDWYN HUGHES

                                                         Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.    

 

22nd April, 1968.

 

 

 

 

 

Professor D. G. Evans was awarded the C.B.E. in the Birthday Honours List, 1969.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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PART II OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF

INQUIRY ON FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE

 

To the Rt. Hon. CLEDWYN HUGHES, M.P.

  Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

 

SIR,

  We were appointed on 28th February, 1968:>

           “to review the policy and arrangements for dealing with foot-and-mouth                    disease in Great Britain and to make recommendations”.

   On 7th March, 1969 we presented Part I of our Report (Cmnd. 3999).  This          dealt with aspects of our inquiry to which we felt it was right to give priority namely, the ways by which the risk of the introduction of foot-and-mouth      disease virus into Great Britain, and the risk of future epidemics, might be reduced.  The Committee welcomed your general acceptance of their recommendations and your subsequent announcement in regard to changes in import policy with effect from 1st October, 1969 which have established the conditions which all but one member of the Committee (Anthony Cripps, Q.C.) considered necessary for the adoption of a policy which relies on the slaughter policy.   The decision to report in two stages arose from our desire to make our main recommendations on policy matters as soon as possible and not to delay until     we could complete a lengthy examination of matters of detailed procedure if outbreaks occur.   We now submit Part II of our Report.  This reviews the arrangements for controlling outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain.  It deals       with such matters as organisation, administration, procedures relating to slaughter and disposal of carcases, sanitary controls and valuation.  Adequate arrangements in relation to these are an essential component of a slaughter   policy if the spread of disease from a primary introduction is to be controlled.   The 1967/1968 epidemic brought to light weaknesses in the existing provisions designed to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.  Your Department, rightly in our view, introduced many modifications during the course of the epidemic either by temporary Order or on a voluntary basis, and considered     that some of these should be included permanently in control Orders as soon     as possible since they would be of great immediate importance in the event of another epidemic.  The Committee agreed that important amendments should not await the completion of this Report and that some changes should be made without delay; these were introduced on 20th October, 1969.  The scope of the amending Orders is given in Appendix VII; generally, these changes had our support but some of them may require further amendment if the relevant recommendations in this Report are accepted.   Our recommendations include a number of proposals which we are aware    your Department are considering as a result of the experience gained during     the course of the 1967/1968 epidemic.

   Since we submitted the first part of our Report we have held a further nineteen meetings in this country.  We have revisited Chester in order to talk to farmers from the surrounding counties, particularly those who actually experienced      foot-and-mouth  disease  on  their  farms  during  the 1967/1968 epidemic as well

 

 

 

 

 

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as others who were involved.  Some of us have visited divisional veterinary   offices of your Department to discuss the arrangements for controlling the  disease in the field with those directly responsible.  We also visited the Animal Health Division of the Ministry at Tolworth, and the Press and Broadcasting  Branch in London.

 

   Many of the witnesses listed in Part I of our Report submitted evidence      which was relevant to both Part I and to Part II.  We would like to thank        them again for the trouble they have taken in providing us with evidence and    for answering our questions, and to extend our appreciation to those who have given us evidence since the completion of the first part of our Report.  Appendix I lists all those persons and bodies who have given us evidence, whether for Part I or for Part II.

 

   We also record our appreciation of the full assistance we received from     officials of your Ministry, not only in the detailed preparation of very numerous papers for our consideration but also in the lengthy discussions we have had     with them.  We were impressed by their objective approach and constructive contributions throughout the inquiry.  The expert knowledge and experience       of foot-and-mouth disease problems of Mr. Carnochan and Mr. Beynon, who      led the Ministry team and who attended all these discussions, were invaluable     to our deliberations.

 

   Finally we express our gratitude to our Secretary Mr. Jotcham, and our Assistant Secretary Mrs. White, and to the members of our secretariat for the speed and efficiency with which they have dealt with our work.  Mr. Jotcham     and Mrs. White have worked with us over long hours and on a number of occasions over weekends, and we are grateful to them for their unfailing co-operation, for their efficient service at all times, and for the care and attention they devoted to us on our visits overseas.

 

   A summary of our conclusions and recommendations is given in Chapter V.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: The estimated cost of preparing and publishing Parts I and II of this Report is £18,637 of which £2,184 represents the estimated cost of printing and publication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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PART  II  OF  THE  REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF

INQUIRY  ON  FOOT-AND-MOUTH  DISEASE

 

CONTENTS

 

Chapter                                                                                    I	INTRODUCTION	Paragraphs   1  -    8
II	GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONTROLLING   OUTBREAKS OF FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE IN GREAT BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1967/1968 EPIDEMIC
		9  -   32
III	REVIEW OF ARRANGEMENTS AND RECOMMENDED IMPROVEMENTS	33
	(a) Initial Reporting and Diagnosis of the Disease	34 –  36
	(b) Administrative Arrangements	37 –  46
	(c) Recruitment to the Veterinary Field Service	47
	(d) Infected Areas
	(i) Definition and size	48 –  50
	(ii) Restriction on movements of animals, animal      Products and people
		51 –  80
	(iii) Housing of livestock	81
	(iv) Restocking	82
	(v) Control of rats and foxes	83 –  84
	(vi) Disposal of dung, litter and	85
	(vii) Inspection of livestock	86
	(viii) Slaughter-houses and knacker’s yards	87
	(e) Controlled Areas
	(i) Purpose, size and definition	88 –   90
	(ii) Restriction on movement of animals	91 –   95
	(iii) Restriction on movement of people	96 –   97
	(f) Animals exposed to Infection	98
	(g) Licensing Arrangements	99 – 106
	(h) Records of Movements and Sales	107 – 108
	(i)  Milk	109 – 115
	(j) Labour, Machinery and Equipment	116 – 123
	(k) Slaughter and Disposal of Carcases	124 – 130
	(l) Disinfection	131 – 142
	(m) Compensation and Associated Matters	143
	(i) Compensation and valuation	144 – 163
	(ii) Consequential loss	164 – 165
	(iii) Taxation	166 – 167
	(iv) Insurance	168 – 169
	(v) Grants and subsidies	170
	(n) Communication and Information Services	171 – 186

 

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CONTENTS > continued

 

 

 

 Chapter                                                                                                     Paragraphs

 

	(o) Artificial Insemination	187 - 198
	(p) Swill	199 – 204
	(q) Legislation	205 – 208
IV	VOLUNTARY VACCINATION	209 – 214
V	CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
	(a) Basis of Recommendations	215 – 221
	(b) Summary	222
VI	POSTSCRIPT TO PART I OF THE COMMITTEE’S REPORT
	(a) General	223
	(b) Characteristics of foot-and-mouth disease virus	224 – 227
	(c) Windborne transmission of foot-and-mouth disease   Virus
		228 – 230
	(d) Carrier state	231
	(e) New vaccines	232
	(f) Other problems	233 – 234

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TABLES

 

                                                                                                                         page

 

I	Primary outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease from 1954  to    24th October,  1967  grouped   according  to  number   of    associated secondary outbreaks
		10
II	Extent and duration of Controlled Areas in  Great  Britain in    the period 1954 to 24th October, 1967
		16  -  17
III	Period between confirmation of foot-and-mouth disease and    completion of slaughter in outbreaks from 25th October to    31st December, 1967
		24