010851 UK Calls in Troops to Combat Livestock Disease

London - Britain said it had called in the army again to help fight an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in northeast England, about five months after soldiers last assisted in a mass livestock slaughter.

In what was an embarrassment for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the army would help coordinate the slaughter and disposal of livestock infected with or at risk from the disease.

Officials had hoped the battle against the highly infectious livestock disease was finally being won, but the new and growing outbreak in Northumberland has prompted scientists and vets to fear that foot-and-mouth could linger for months.

“The army has been on standby for a couple of days and, yes, they've been called in,” a spokeswoman for DEFRA said.

“They will help with logistics, making sure everything is well organized. They will stay as long as necessary.”

Britain's latest foot-and-mouth outbreak was discovered in late February and has taken a heavy toll, forcing the slaughter of more than 3.7 million animals, a loss of meat export markets and a drop in tourism revenues.

Earlier in the crisis, pictures of funeral pyres stacked with dead animal carcasses were shown around the world and tourists stayed away from Britain's countryside, fearing the disease was similar to the country's mad cow crisis.

DEFRA CANNOT COPE -- NFU

Britain deployed troops in late March to help dispose of mountains of slaughtered livestock, which had been left to rot in farmers' fields as officials ran out of resources.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) in northeast England said the move to call in the army could mean the government suspected

many more cases of disease would be uncovered in Northumberland, where 16 farms have so far been infected.

“I suspect that the decision lies in the fact that DEFRA feels it cannot cope on its own and it needs the expert logistical advice that the army can provide,” Rob Simpson, an NFU spokesman, said.

“Our experience of seeing how the army works has proved that they are the best people for a crisis. It would seem from the decision to call the army in that they suspect there is a wider source of infection yet to be identified.”

Nine Scottish farms have been sealed off against the disease, which can cause severe weight loss in cloven-hoofed animals, amid fears that the outbreak in nearby Northumberland could spread across the border.

Simpson said the infection might have breached the strictest measures in place in Northumberland, after two cases were found outside the controlled area.

Almost 2,000 farms in Britain have been confirmed with the disease.

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