Foot and Mouth Disease
16 March 2001	Highlands and North still clear, extreme measures taken in UK to eradicate
The Highlands and the North of Scotland are still clear of the disease, but with disruption to crofters and farmers caused by animal movement restrictions, made particularly acute by livestock stuck in wintering areas.
With the discovery that outwardly healthy sheep are passing on the virus, an intensification of slaughter has been ordered by the Scottish Executive and UK Government. In Dumfriesshire and Twynholm, all sheep within three kilometres of an infected flock, and all sheep flocks containing animals which can be traced to an area of infection, will be destroyed. Similar measures will be taken in the worst affected areas of England, namely Cumbria and Devon, and Wales.
Some farmers will bitterly oppose this move, although farmers' leaders are, in the main, resigned to the need to intensify the eradication of suspect flocks.
As tourism suffers with agriculture, there are calls to landowners to heed the Executive's advice and 'reopen' selected low-risk areas in the countryside. In Plockton, National Trust for Scotland land is currently closed to the public.
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