DATE=04/13/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BRITAIN / HOOF AND MOUTH (L-O)

NUMBER=2-274883

BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=LONDON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Health teams in Britain are still trying to contain the hoof and mouth disease that has ravaged the countryside. More than 12-hundred cases have been reported since the first outbreak three months ago. Correspondent Laurie Kassman has the latest from London.

TEXT: The number of cases of hoof and mouth disease has decreased slightly in the past few days but the outbreak is far from over. Some farmers are charging that the epidemic has spread beyond the ability of the government to contain it.

More than 540 thousand infected animals are waiting to be slaughtered. More than 400 thousand carcasses are still awaiting disposal.

Scientists from London's Imperial College say about one third of British farms could be infected with the highly contagious virus before the crisis ends. They also suggest the government's goal to destroy infected animals within 24 hours of diagnosis - and nearby healthy livestock within 48 hours -- may be impossible to achieve.

National Farmers Union official Anthony Gibbons says killing all the animals is not the answer.

/// GIBBONS ACT ///

I do think they cannot go on slaughtering animals indefinitely and piling up vast mountains of carcasses indefinitely without getting on top of the disease. I think there has to be sign that the present policy is winning. Otherwise we have to move to plan "B," whatever that may be.

/// END ACT ///

Many farmers in fact worry the government will eventually adopt a policy of vaccination but they say it will be too late for farmers forced into bankruptcy now by the destruction of their herds.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown told British radio vaccination could be useful later on - but not as a means to eradicate hoof and mouth disease.

/// BROWN ACT ///

The strategy that I am attracted to is one that uses vaccination in order to ensure that the high value animals like cattle live on, rather than culled out. But vaccination is not the way of defeating the disease once it has occurred. There is no cure for this disease. The way to control it is to slaughter it out. I know it is a very hard thing to say, but I'm afraid that's the only way we're going to restore our foot and mouth disease-free status in this country and bring this outbreak to an end.

/// END ACT ///

Surprisingly, all the protests and complaints over the government's handling of the crisis have not damaged Prime Minister Tony Blair's standing in the opinion polls. That has frustrated the opposition Conservative Party in its efforts to defeat him in the next general elections.

The prime minister has postponed a vote scheduled for May because of the hoof and mouth epidemic. Political pundits had warned that his Labor Party would suffer at the ballot box if he did not.

But the latest public opinion survey shows Prime Minister Blair still enjoys a 26-point lead over his arch rival, Conservative Party leader William Hague.

Political columnists now predict Mr. Hague will be the one looking for a new job after the election because of his inability to capitalize on the latest crisis to Mr. Blair's leadership. (Signed)

NEB/LMK/KL/KBK