UNITED KINGDOM
BREAKTHROUGH IN FOOT AND MOUTH TESTING,
Doctor Nigel Ferris, of the Institute of Animal Health, has announced a new testing system for foot and mouth disease, that can easily be used by farmers to test their own cattle.
From taking a small sample from suspected animals the new testing equipment can give a positive or negative answer within 10 minutes.
The small hand held device is based on the same equipment that is used for pregnancy tests,
This is the biggest breakthrough in the fight against for and mouth in the last 50 years.
In listed outbreaks of the disease in recent times, by the time results of tests come back from the laboratory , the disease has already traveled to other properties.
England’s farming community have been victims of the most severe outbreaks of foot and moth in 1958,1963,1967 and 2000, causing emotional and financial distress to whole communities.
The 1967 outbreak, resulted in the ban of carcass beef being imported to the United Kingdom for Argentina, the ban has remained in place for 41 years.
