Report reveals human cost of disease outbreak (From Gazette & Herald)

Report reveals human cost of disease outbreak

FARMERS have welcomed research that concludes the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic was a human tragedy, not just an animal one.

The study revealed that in the aftermath of the outbreak, entire communities suffered flashbacks, nightmares, uncontrollable emotion, conflict and social isolation.

A team of researchers asked rural workers and residents to keep diaries to analyse the impact of the disaster.

Farming representatives said the report's findings were "all too familiar".

Andrew Spence, of campaign group Farmers For Action, said: "This study rings true, without a shadow of a doubt."

Mr Spence was behind a call for "rural revolt" in response to the Government's cull of healthy animals.

In March 2001, he told BBC Radio 4: "If we have got to blockade ourselves into our farms, then we will."

This week, Mr Spence said: "It sounds cruel, but there was a saying in the 1967 outbreak that the farms that got it were the lucky ones. At least for them it ended.

"Those that didn't had the heartache of seeing their animals starve to death, of fighting on a daily basis with DEFRA, with the banks, with the supermarkets.

"By the end, we could barely feed ourselves, and five years on we are still paying the banks back.

"It was a nightmare for everyone, and obviously those terrible memories still haunt many of us."

Ruby Garbutt, a cattle and sheep farmer from Bilsdale, said: "It was awful. Foot and mouth got to within five miles of us here, and more than once we were resigned to getting it - it just seemed to be coming at us from all directions. For us, 2001 will always be 'foot and mouth year'."

Foot and mouth forced the closure of the 2001 Farndale Show. Organiser Barry Sunley said: "In 2001, the fortresses went up and there was a lot of worry about how far the disease might spread.

"But foot and mouth is in the past, it's behind us now - life must go on."

The team behind the report, published in the British Medical Journal, found that suffering was alleviated by trusted informal and formal support networks.

The researchers also called for more flexibility in disaster planning, and better peer support for front line workers.

Updated: 14:55 Wednesday, October 12, 2005