Legacy of disease still haunts Scots farmers

UK - September 11, 2001 is a date that will be forever etched in infamy, a fact reflected in this week's marking of the anniversary. But it was also the day that Scotland was officially declared free of foot-and-mouth disease.
calendar icon 16 September 2006
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The first confirmed case was near Lockerbie on 1 March and the last in Berwickshire on 30 May. Between those two dates, there were 187 confirmed cases in Scotland, but 1,644 farms north of the Border were affected to varying degrees. In total there were 2,030 confirmed instances of FMD in the UK.

The passage of time makes the raw statistics no less horrifying. Over one million cattle, sheep, pigs and goats were slaughtered, either because there were infected with the disease or deemed to be dangerous contacts.

In mid-March 2001, Quality Meat Scotland estimated that losses of around £30 million each week were being sustained through the loss of sales of beef, lamb and pork to UK and international markets.

Source: The Scotsman

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