FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE IN CUMBRIA, ENGLAND: SPRING 2001

摘要

I tell my story from a soldier's perspective, not as trained scientist nor as a veterinarian. What is not in doubt is that I feel very privileged to address such an expert and distinguished audience today. Foot and mouth disease (FMD) was confirmed inthe United Kingdom on February 20th, but was quickly traced back to Northern England. This was significant because, at that time I was the commander of 42nd North West Brigade. As such, I was responsible for any military operations conducted in my areaand the provision of military supports from my unit to other government departments. The Brigade is divided into 30 units and soldiers in these units are a mixture of both regular army - similar to your normal full time military units - and what we callterritorial army, part time soldiers, recruited locally and who serve a minimum of 27 days per year. The latter are comparable to your National Guard. To give you some idea of scale, the North West area is about 8,000 square miles with a population of 6.8 million persons.