THANKFULLY it is all over bar the shouting, for farmers at least. I refer, of course, yet again to foot-and-mouth disease.
Apart from another piece of dreadful bureaucracy, 20-day movement rule, this awful disease has essentially passed away.
However, for the government to have recorded two epidemics in less than 10 years is a pretty terrible indictment.
I am sure they will soon relent on the 20-day movement rule when they realise how ridiculous a bit of bureaucracy it really is. But for the time being it will make livestock farmers lives just that little bit more difficult to operate strictly within the law.
This outbreak has demonstrated how unsuitable our bureaucrats are for dealing with such an emergency.
In Wales there was never any threat from the disease this time, unless Defra and the Surrey authorities had tried to send infected carcasses to an incinerator here.
I just wonder why was it necessary to implement a full movement ban when there was no risk.
I suppose it was unfortunate that the National Assembly was pre-occupied by other matters at the time - I refer to the extraction from his temple and murder of Shambo the bull.
I do not see why the Assembly considered the destruction of Shambo as so important, but were impotent to deal with the foot-and-mouth crisis.
We are assured the disease originated from the Institute of Animal Health, Pirbright, or its associated pharmaceutical company.
I wonder how the Government are going to handle the problem of paying compensation to the livestock farmers and others who were affected by the resulting movement ban which was imposed by the State Veterinary Service.
It’s tragic that such an epidemic could have been allowed to occur so soon after the previous outbreak in 2001.
The earlier outbreak was caused by virus leaking out of a scientific research centre in Northern England and it would appear that the same thing has happened this year.
The problem in 2001 occurred because scientific boffins probably thought they were dealing with dead virus, but failed to realise this virus can become reactivated if it comes into contact with its natural host, cattle.
I don’t suppose we shall ever be told as to why this deadly and powerful virus is being used for scientific research in such a way that it can escape into local watercourses.
A combination of this virus and muddled bureaucracy would make a wonderful weapon of mass destruction.
