ANXIOUS farmers are still waiting to hear if the dreaded foot and mouth virus has been contained after a suspected outbreak was discovered at a farm in north Bucks.
The virus is highly infectious and can spread rapidly through the air, on people's boots or even on vehicles, affecting cloven-footed animals such as sheep, pigs, cows and goats. There are no human health implications.
Shoppers have ignored government advice not to panic buy meat after the movement of livestock and meat products was banned in Britain.
Steven White, duty manager for Safeway, Temple End, High Wycombe, said shoppers cleared out the store of meat on Sunday, with only a few meat items now left.
Odds Farm Park, Wooburn Common, was closed on Saturday and will stay shut until at least Thursday. A popular place for families to see rare breeds, the farm has closed in an attempt to keep its animals healthy.
The disease first reappeared in the UK last Monday and a farm in Great Horwood, north Bucks, has been sealed off after an outbreak of foot and mouth was suspected among pigs.
While farms in south Buckinghamshire have not had outbreaks, farmers have still been affected by the worldwide ban imposed on exports of British meat, livestock and dairy products.
The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) banned the movement of all sheep, cattle, pigs and goats within the UK until March 2 to help ensure the current outbreak is contained and eradicated as quickly as possible.
Affected animals have also been shot and their carcasses burnt to ensure all traces of the virus disappear.
Speaking on Friday, Agriculture Minister Nick Brown, said: "While this will obviously be disruptive, there was general support from the farming and food industries this morning that this is the right approach."
A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said the group provisionally welcomed MAFF's proposed precautionary measures but urged the Government to make compensation a high priority.
The south-east region of the National Farmers Union (NFU) has published Foot and Mouth Disease - A Short Guide for Farmers which gives advice on controlling the virus after farmers swamped NFU helplines.
William White, senior policy adviser with NFU South East said: "The phones have been red hot this week with farmers needing common-sense practical advice."
Advice includes being vigilant, maintaining hygiene standards and instructing the postman to leave mail in a box at the end of the drive.
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