Some farmers say they will refuse to allow the slaughter teams onto their farms. Others have mentioned driving their animals to safety in national parks. Comments have been made about a legal challenge to the plan that calls for killing of up to 300,000 seemingly healthy sheep and pigs. However, experts say the wholesale slaughter is being done for scientific reasons, at least in reference to a couple of sheep. Brown spoke on the advice of his chief veterinary officer, Jim Scudamore.
Evidence exists that the virus can exist undetected in sheep for days before anyone notices.
Because many flocks are so large, it makes detection of the disease even harder. A veterinary surgeon who worked through the outbreak in 1967 explained to BBC News Online why he supports the policy. The lesions in the mouth clear up in a few days, and you may not notice the animals limping, because lameness is a common problem in sheep anyway. We now know that half of all the cases in this outbreak can be traced back to the markets at Longtown in Cumbria and Welshpool in Wales. It does look as if the sheep movements since the outbreak began have been wider and more complex than anyone imagined.