4.30pm

Report warns of 'very large epidemic'

4,000 cases by June
Blair extends firebreak cull across UK
Infected animals to be killed within 24 hours
Special report: foot and mouth

Staff and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Friday March 23 2001 16.44 GMT

Tony Blair with German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in Stockholm

The prime minister, Tony Blair, today ordered the precautionary "firebreak" cull to be extended to all parts of Britain as a government report warned that more than 4,000 cases of foot and mouth disease could be recorded in the UK by June.

Mr Blair's action will see all animals within a one mile radius of an infected farm slaughtered.

Today's study predicts that there may soon be 70 outbreaks a day and recommends drastic action to bring the disease under control. In answer, Mr Blair also called for all infected animals to be slaughtered within 24 hours of diagnosis.

The government report said the number of cases will rise steeply, with rapid expansion in the infected areas.

The speedier slaughter of infected animals will help to reduce the spread of the virus but the cull needs to include the immediate slaughter of all susceptible species around infected farms, it said.

The report, compiled for the ministry of agriculture by foot and mouth specialists, warned that, without such drastic action, the disease will become firmly established in Britain.

Speaking at the EU summit in Stockholm, Mr Blair said the leaders of other member states had been sympathetic to Britain's plight and had offered help in the form of veterinary expertise.

But Mr Blair refused to be drawn on whether he will postpone the May 3 local elections. "Everyone keeps asking me about elections, but my priority has to be getting this disease under control," he said.

Experts from the institute of animal health and veterinary laboratories agency, who helped to compile today's report, also said that the UK's last major epidemic, in 1967, was "quite different".

This time, they warned, more of the country was infected with the spread of the disease by sheep.

The total number of outbreaks has risen to 480, including the case in Northern Ireland. The number of animals condemned for slaughter has risen to 435,491, which is already more than the 433,987 killed in the eight-month outbreak in 1967/8, with more to come.

What's going on?
Full list: outbreaks
Full list: closed & cancelled
Causes and effects

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