The local practice, the Hadrian Veteri nary Group, is very busy. Their routine farm visits are far fewer, but the meat hygiene team is working flat out and a further two vets at a time, on rotation, have been seconded to the Ministry of Agriculture. Once a vet has attended a suspected case of foot and mouth, they enter a strict, five-day quarantine and cannot attend another farm, even in extremis. The remaining vets also only visit farms in emergencies. The most common call-out this week has been for cows with severe calving difficulties, or cows with milk fever after calving.
Milk fever is a severe chemical imbalance that is usually fatal if left untreated.
It requires speedy intravenous administration of a fluid containing calcium and magnesium. The strict disinfection routine each vet and their vehicle have to go through before being allowed to enter farm premises really slows them down. Vet Iain Carrington says they'll just have to manage somehow as it is, after all, a national emergency. The Murray family has still not heard about their results, although yesterday Stuart was gradually becoming more confident that the result will prove negative. But still they wait, as we all do, for this outbreak to pass.