Volume 1

Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Foot-and-Mouth Disease, 1968 / presented to Parliament by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by command of Her Majesty, April 1969.

  • Great Britain. Committee of Inquiry on Foot-and-Mouth Disease.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Foot-and-Mouth Disease, 1968 / presented to Parliament by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by command of Her Majesty, April 1969. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    43/142 (page 41)
    THE 1967/1968 EPIDEMIC 64. In October, 1967 the first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in what was to become the worst recorded epidemic in this century, was reported at Bryn Farm, Nantmawr, Oswestry, Shropshire. The epidemic, which lasted until 4th June, 1968, caused 2,364 outbreaks, on 2,346 farms, 18 of which were infected on two occasions. The epidemic resulted in the slaughter of 433,987 animals, including 211,825 cattle, 113,766 pigs, 108,345 sheep and 51 goats. 65. The sequence of events relating to the outbreak on Bryn Farm was as follows. On Saturday, 21st October the owner noticed that one sow was lame; one day later a second sow was seen to be lame. Both animals were removed from the yard and housed. By Wednesday, 25th October a third sow and eleven store pigs were ailing and at this stage veterinary advice was sought. Before the veterinary inspector arrived at the farm, two cows had been sent in the morning to Oswestry market. The inspector diagnosed foot-and-mouth disease immediately on examining the pigs and found that seventeen were infected. (It is probable that the outbreak on this farm had started in the sows that had been seen to be lame on 21st and 22nd October and that they had transmitted the disease to the remaining pigs). As soon as the disease was diagnosed, the usual restrictions were applied to the farm and to the market. There were 1,963 animals still in Oswestry market and these were detained in the sale yard. One of the two cows that had been sent to the market from Bryn Farm had already left the market by vehicle but was stopped by the police and returned to the farm; the other cow was returned to the farm direct from the market. These two animals were included in a veterinary examination of all the stock at Bryn Farm on the morning of Thursday, 26th October by which time it was found that 28 pigs were infected although no cattle showed any clinical signs. The entire stock on the farm, consisting of 71 cattle, 67 pigs and 47 sheep, were slaughtered and buried that day. 66. It was decided that none of the stock that had passed through, or were detained in, Oswestry market should be slaughtered as the two cows which had been sent there from Bryn Farm had not shown any signs of being infected with foot-and-mouth disease. The decision was therefore taken to clear the market of the detained animals which were inspected and licensed to move either to slaughter-houses or to various farms in the Infected Area. This decision caused much concern among farmers since it was feared that as a result of this dispersal the disease would spread. Nevertheless the market was cleared by the morning of Saturday, 28th October. Many of the animals that had been sent to the market on the Wednesday had been dispersed before movement restrictions were applied, and some had gone as far afield as Banffshire and Devon. These were traced and examined by the veterinary staff of theMinistry of Agriculture. The animals that had been detained and subsequently dis- persed were also later re-examined by veterinary inspectors. None of the animals that had been in the market developed foot-and-mouth disease as a result of contact with the animals from Bryn Farm. 4]