crufts dog show

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Carrie, so sorry the situation has not improved, I check every day to see if there is a post from you saying the tide has turned for the better. All of our prayers are with you.

[carrie]

The relentless march goes on - 1234 cases now.
Easter holidays abroad have seen a huge increase deepening the problems faced by our tourist industry. If it stopped tomorrow I can't even guess how long it will take us to recover from this.

Again let me thank all of you who show such support and caring, it is valued and appreciated.

[carrie]

There are now 1,259 cases confirmed.

The prediction now is that around a third of all British farms will be affected by the time this is over.

Farmers are very angry that the authorities are getting slower rather than quicker at responding to new cases. All animals on an infected farm should be slaughtered within 24hours and those on adjacent farms within 48hours. This is still not happening and this is why many farmers believe the spread continues.

[Corinna]

Carrie I heard a shocking story but only one time .Maybe you could let us know if you've heard it. It seems that a vial of the virus is missing from you minstry of medicine. It was so concentrated that it could be used to infect all of europe. Have you heard anything about this? If it's true , you all need an old fashion lynching like we did here in the west. Corinna, praying for all of you and you critters. Ps I just remembered that Lamas are cloven hooved are they killing them also?

[sammi]

Carrie, Thank you again for keeping us current on your devastating condition. Its hard to even imagin what its like. But we continue to think of you everyday and hope it will end soon.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Carrie, as I have said so many, many times before, I just wait for the day when you can say all is well. The Farmers in your country have had so much pain that I don't think we can really understand, all that we can hope for is that it will end soon.

[carrie]

As of yesterday the total is 1306 infected farms.

I have not heard any reports of missing virus from any source but will try and verify. I think it is unlikely as if such an massive risk was imminent I'm sure it would be headline news here.

At the moment we are waiting to hear if a suspect case of swine fever is confirmed. Our last outbreak of this disease last year ended with the slaughter of 36,000 pigs.

Llamas are in danger of Foot and Mouth and are treated the same as pigs, cows and sheep.

As more livestock are being buried in mass pits fears about leakage and contamination from these sites are growing. Massive amounts of disinfectant are also being sprayed liberally - 40 years worth of chemicals have been sold in the last 6 months - contamination of water courses is now a major concern too.

We are all hoping for the day I can report some good news....may it be soon.

[Karen]

From your numbers, maybe it seems like it's slowing down? I do hope so very much that the disease will not spread further, and that ways can be found to contain the virus. Is anyone reportedly working on a cure?

[carrie]

1341 cases as of yesterday so, yes it does seem that the daily number is starting to fall slightly. It will need to fall a lot more before anyone here is convinced that the tide has turned though.

There are now 3 cases confirmed and two suspected in Northern Ireland. This is worrying as they are 50 - 60 miles apart and appear to have no connection to each other.

[carrie]

1363 cases have now been confirmed.

The Government and farming unions are at loggerheads over the issue of vaccination. The Government is keen to start limited vaccinations in Cumbria and Devon to, as they say, create a firewall to stop the spread. Ben Gill, the President of the National Famers Union, has expressed fears that this option throws up so many unknown factors it would be like throwing a ball onto a roulette wheel and hoping it comes up trumps.
Welfare issues are also thought to be a major influence on the Government. Cattle that have been inside for the winter are running out of feed but can't be moved due to the restrictions. Farmers are asking for many of these animals to be slaughtered rather than let them suffer. If they were vaccinated they could be put out to grass. They would then be slaughtered at a later date. Concerns are that the vaccination is very unsafe, carriers would remain in the herd, consumers would not want milk or meat from these animals and it would encourage rather than stop the disease spreading.

[carrie]

There are now 1412 confirmed cases of Foot and Mouth.

1,807,000 animals have been slaughtered or have been identified as awaiting slaughter.

1,294,000 animals have actually been slaughtered.
264,000 of these are still awaiting disposal by burning or burial.
512,000 animals await slaughter.

These numbers are for animals on farms that have had a confirmed case of Foot and Mouth. They do not include the animals that live on the farms next to confirmed cases - these animals are also killed.

Farmers with healthy animals are getting to a point beyond desperation - fear that they will loose their animals although they may never get the disease is terrible. The conditions these animals are now living in is becoming too much for some farmers with no feed to give them and overcrowding issues. Some are threatening to move their animals out to the fields unless action is taken in the next few days and some are blockading their farms to stop the "men from the ministry" killing healthy animals.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Carrie, we are still following your posts and happy you can still let us know what is going on despite your pain.. I think we cannot think of any words to express the sorrow we feel for those farmers. All we can do is keep them in our prayers and hope it will end soon.

[***Puppy power***]

I love that show another show i love on animal planet is crocidle hunter

[Dixie Belle]

I just joined up on this site this week, and ran across this today. I want to say thank you. I have been hearing about this outbreak but never really knew what it was. It is horrible. I hope we can keep it out of the States. It is really sad to think of the animals that had to be killed over there because of this stuff, and the people that have suffered too. Thank you for explaining what this stuff is. Now when I hear people asking, I can spread the info.

[carrie]

The infection rate is slowing at last!

Total infected farms are now 1482 - that's over 2 million animals slaughtered.

But, as I said, at last there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The blanket cull on farms next to infected farms has been stopped. Local vets will now take the decision into their own hands and decide on an individual basis whether it is beneficial to slaughter animals next to an infected area or safe to let them live.

Some stars have been found - a calf in Devon that somehow survived the slaughter on the farm it lives on (the herd was not infected but slaughtered as a precaution) survived for four days among the bodies before being found. She has been named Phoenix and is healthy. She will now be allowed to live.

Also in Devon there is a sheep and her lamb that escaped from the farmyard as the rest of the flock were slaughtered. She has escaped traps, sheep dogs and even a marksman sent in to shoot her - she too will now be allowed to live as long as she stays healthy.

This is not over and some experts are claiming that we will see a huge increase in the Autumn but at the moment it seems we are winning.