Mr Blair said that the Government was ready to make funding available for advertising campaigns by local tourist authorities seeking to assure the public that their areas are safe to visit. In sheep, the symptoms are mild and difficult to spot. That is why Government vets want to cull animals within two miles of an outbreak. There is now a new stage in slaughter with the opening of the first burial pit. With the silent spread of the virus, the slaughter is so great burning cannot cope.
Burial is in fact the option vets prefer.
When animals die, rigor mortis makes their muscles acid and acidity kills the virus. Spreading lime on the carcasses also kills the virus, so dead sheep cannot contaminate land. The vaccine is not 100 per cent effective, it would have to be given every six months and, crucially, vaccinated animals can still become carriers of the disease. Because of that our exports of livestock would virtually be wiped out and vaccinated animals would still have to be slaughtered. It has struck in Northumbria, we had it in Cumbria, we have had it down the Midlands and down into Devon.