That is slightly more than one beast for every man, woman and child. The Ministry of Agriculture and the National Farmers' Union do not always see eye to eye, but on this issue they are as one. The only way to contain and then eradicate foot and mouth is, they insist, the mass slaughter of not only already affected animals, but those vulnerable to the disease.
Vaccination is expensive and complex.
There are seven main varieties of the foot and mouth virus, and dozens of sub-types. The present epidemic in Britain involves the particularly virulent pan-Asiatic O type. Animals can be protected by vaccination, but the treatment does not invariably work, and has to be repeated every six months or so - and in every new generation. Because the vaccine produces antibodies, it would be impossible to distinguish between treated animals and those which have contracted foot and mouth disease. In effect, this would result in the loss of disease-free status for British animals, and kill the meat export trade stone dead.