Livestock Outbreak Gets Political

In a desperate move to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, the British army Monday buried thousands of animals while the government issued a worldwide appeal for veterinarians to help fight the disease.

Meanwhile, the massive slaughter and potential economic disaster threatened to evolve into a political crisis for the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, reports CBS News Correspondent Tom Fenton.

Contractors supervised by the army worked through the night at a former air base in Cumbria, digging a trench some 100 meters long, 5 meters wide and 4 meters deep, where up to half-a-million sheep will be dumped.

Another five sites are being considered as burial grounds for sheep. Cattle cannot be buried in Britain because of the risk that they carry mad cow disease, so cow carcasses must be burned.

More than 600 farms have already been hit by the highly infectious disease, and experts say it will get far worse if the government doesn't dispose of suspect livestock faster.

"If we don't do this, there is a possibility that Britain will lose half its livestock," said Professor David King, the chief government science advisor.

With thousands of carcasses rotting in the fields, the government acknowledged that it needs help from outside Britain to get on top of the fast-spreading illness.

"We believe that more veterinary resources are needed, indeed by making an appeal worldwide," said Agriculture Minister Nick Brown.

It's the government's alleged reluctance to use the resources it has that threatens to hurt Blair politically.

The prime minister waited weeks before bringing in the army, because that would signal a crisis. That delay has cost farmers dearly and incited fierce criticism.

"The message from across the country about the use of the army, the speed of slaughter and carrying out the cull is to the government: stop dithering and get on with it," said opposition Conservative leader William Hague.

Blair rejected the suggestion.

"The idea this requires another committee is beside the point," said Blair. "What it actually requires is to make sure that the work that is supposed to happen on the ground is happening on the ground."

Conservative politicians have urged Blair to postpone the election widely expected on May 3.

The prime minister wants the early election to take advantage of his Labor party's lead in the polls. But he may have to delay it now, to avoid appearing insensitive to the plight of farmers by campaigning in the midst of a national emergency.

"If he has a national emergency, he can't have an election," said one farmer. "The farmers of Cumbria are being sacrificed for Tony Blair's election, and it makes me bloody mad."

The outbreak is also devastating the tourism industry. With piles of animal carcasses littering the countryside, picturesque village streets are now mostly empty as cancellations begin to pour in from the United States.

"Foot-and-mouth disease is really the biggest blow to the UK tourism industry in over a decade," said Jo Leslie of the British government tourist office.

Citing the impact on tourism, another opposition party member is calling on Blair to order vaccinations.

"Tourists do not want to come and see the deathly pall of smoke hanging like some painting of Dante's Inferno across the hills and valleys," argued Conservative MP John Redwood.

Blair said he is keeping the possibility of vaccination under review.

"Vaccination is not an easy solution to this problem, either," said Blair. "I believe that most people recognize that the policy of containment, containment by culling, is the right policy, at any rate, at the present time."

One reason vaccination is often opposed as a containment strategy is because it leaves healthy animals wih the same foot-and-mouth antibodies found in sick animals, making the virus harder to track.

Reuters Sheep and cattle carcasses are incinerated in a field near Carlisle, England.

Also Monday, the list of countries tightening border controls to deal with the crisis lengthened.

Russia banned imports of meat and dairy products from the European Union and the Baltics. China announced it was barring imports of sheep, cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals from Ireland and the Netherlands. And Norway extended a ban on most meat and livestock imports from other European countries.

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