010548 UK Relaxes Foot-And-Mouth ControlsMay 20, 2001London - Britain's agriculture ministry said it had relaxed livestock movement restrictions on more than 3,000 farms in areas of England, just after experiencing its first day free of new foot-and-mouth cases. The ministry said farmers in four areas, not badly hit by the foot-and-mouth epidemic, could now move their animals to abattoirs for slaughter if the journey took less than four and a half hours and it was not to a place without a case. “In total around 21,000 farms have now had infected area restrictions lifted,” it said in a statement, adding that the farms were in Hinckley and Nuneaton in central England and in Macclesfield, northern England. Earlier the ministry welcomed the first day free of new foot-and-mouth cases since the crisis hit in late February -- but officials also warned it was too soon for farmers to drop their guard against the highly infectious disease. More than 1,600 premises have been confirmed as having the disease and almost three million animals have been slaughtered. Britain imposed severe measures to combat foot-and-mouth, which affects cloven-hoofed animals and can spread like wildfire on the air, on vehicle tires and on clothing.
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