Hi everyone
Been skimming the list lately, as busy, but caught the refs. to foot &
mouth. We just heard that a relation's farm on Dartmoor is under
restriction,
another farmer close by had his stock confirmed with f & m... The relation
has a
riding business as well as cattle and sheep so he has been hit with the
no-movement as well as being worried sick about his stock. The farmer which
had his stock confirmed with it had just finished calving his 120-cow
suckler herd... seems they had to take a gun away from him, poor man, as
they were worried for him, not surprising as he must be at the end of his
tether... sharpshooters are going to help gather the moor, where many sheep
range, to prevent any animal getting away. Desperate times.
Precautions are in place down here in the Falkland Islands, at the airport.
Our main air link comes from Oxfordshire where another case has just been
confirmed, so the vets are not taking any chances. (We've all been
bombarding them with phone calls to make sure something was done, but they
already had it in hand.) The Falklands are one of the few countries never
to have experienced this horrendous disease.
Re raw fleeces from Britain, it would be a shame if suppliers there had to
suffer as a result of this, things are hard enough - so why not check with
your vet if in doubt, or customs. Any fleeces being offered would have been
shorn some months ago so I would think that the risk would be practically
zero, but if worried why not just wash them immediately in hot water. This
bug loves the cold, not heat, and can survive when frozen which is more than
likely how this outbreak began, with uncooked or improperly cooked swill
being fed to pigs. (Not proven yet but highly likely.) Even frozen bull
semen can be contaminated. Imported foodstuffs from countries where f & m
is endemic - eg several S. American countries - can contain the virus but
are of no threat to humans and wouldn't be noticed. An easy way for it to
get going.
Sorry to go on but things are hard enough for UK farmers right now without
people being scared of buying fleeces from them... just check that the farm
in question is clear of disease, and that the fleece/s has been stored
under cover... and wash them on arrival.
happy spinning all -
back to lurking
rosemary
http://www.falklandwool.com
Chemical-free top and pure wool yarns available online.
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