In February 2001, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was confirmed in Great Britain. A major epidemic developed, which peaked around 50 cases a day in late March, declining to under 10 a day by May. By mid-July, 1849 cases had been detected. The main control measures employed were livestock movement restrictions and the rapid slaughter of infected and exposed livestock. The first detected case was in south-east England; infection was traced to a farm in north-east England to which all other cases were linked. The epidemic was large as a result of a combination of events, including a delay in the diagnosis of the index case, the movement of infected sheep to market before FMD was first diagnosed, and the time of year. Virus was introduced at a time when there were many sheep movements around the country and weather conditions supported survival of the virus. The consequence was multiple, effectively primary, introductions of FMD virus into major sheep-keeping areas. Subsequent local spread from these introductions accounted for the majority of cases. The largest local epidemics were in areas with dense sheep populations and livestock dealers who were active during the key period. Most affected farms kept both sheep and cattle. At the time of writing the epidemic was still ongoing; however, this paper provides a basis for scientific discussion of the first five months.

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Aims: The objective of these surveys was to estimate the prevalence of faecal carriage of Salmonella in healthy pigs, cattle and sheep at slaughter, and of pig carcase contamination with Salmonella. These data can be used as a baseline against which future change in Salmonella prevalence in these species at slaughter can be monitored. Methods and Results: In this first randomized National Survey for faecal carriage of Salmonella in slaughter pigs, cattle and sheep in Great Britain, 2509 pigs, 891 cattle and 973 sheep were sampled in 34 pig abattoirs and 117 red meat abattoirs in England, Scotland and Wales. Carriage of Salmonella in 25 g caecal contents was identified in 578 (23AE0% pigs) but in only 134 (5AE3%) of carcase swabs. The predominant Salmonella serovars found in both types of sample were S. Typhimurium (11AE1% caeca, 2AE1% carcases) and S. Derby (6AE3% caeca, 1AE6% carcases). The main definitive phage types (DT) of S. Typhimurium found were DT104 (21AE9% of caecal S. Typhimurium isolates), DT193 (18AE7%), untypable strains (17AE6%), DT208 (13AE3%) and U302 (13AE3%). Three isolates of S. Enteritidis (PTs 13A and 4) and one enrofloxacin-resistant S. Choleraesuis were also isolated. A positive Ômeat-juice ELISAÔ was obtained from 15AE2% of pigs at 40% optical density (O.D.) cut-off level and 35AE7% at 10% cut-off. There was poor correlation between positive ELISA results or carcase contamination and the caecal carriage of Salmonella. The ratio of carcase contamination to caecal carriage rates was highest in abattoirs from the midland region of England and in smaller abattoirs. In cattle and sheep 1 g samples of rectal faeces were tested. Two isolates (i.e. 0AE2%) were recovered from cattle, one each of S. Typhimurium, DT193 and DT12. One sheep sample (0AE1%) contained a Salmonella, S. Typhimurium DT41. In a small subsidiary validation exercise using 25 g of rectal faeces from 174 cattle samples, three (1AE7%) isolates of Salmonella (S. Typhimurium DT104, S. Agama, S. Derby) were found. Conclusions: The carriage rate of Salmonella in prime slaughter cattle and sheep in Great Britain was very low compared with pigs. This suggests that future control measures should be focused on reduction of Salmonella infection on pig farms and minimizing contamination of carcases at slaughter. Significance and Impact of the Study: This work has set baseline figures for Salmonella carriage in these species slaughtered for human consumption in Great Britain. These figures were collected in a representative way, which enables them to be used for monitoring trends and setting control targets.

A 12-month abattoir survey was conducted between January 1999 and January 2000, to determine the prevalence of faecal carriage of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (VTEC O157) in cattle and sheep slaughtered for human consumption in Great Britain. Samples of rectum containing faeces were collected from 3939 cattle and 4171 sheep at 118 abattoirs, in numbers proportional to the throughput of the premises. The annual prevalence of faecal carriage of VTEC O157 was 4.7 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval 4.1 to 5.4) for cattle and 1.7 per cent (1.3 to 2.1) for sheep, values which were statistically significantly different from each other (P < 0.001). The organisms were recovered from both cattle and sheep slaughtered throughout the year and at abattoirs in all regions of the country, but the highest prevalence was in the summer. The most frequency recovered VTEC O157 isolates were phage types 2, 8 and 21/28 in cattle and 4 and 32 in sheep, the five most frequently isolated phage types associated with illness in people in Great Britain during the same period.