From yesterday, Hadfield Wood Recyclers in Droylsden has disinfected every lorry arriving at and leaving its site to minimise the risk of visiting lorries contaminating the site, or infecting the recycled animal bedding it produces for horses, cattle and poultry.
Hadfield's recycled animal bedding products, which are used on farms and are named easibed, easibed plus and easichick, are designed to be free of dust or bacteria and therefore the firm believes it is crucial to keep it free from infection.
Although the company said that foot and mouth disease had not been linked to the movement of animal bedding in the past, it said it was important to take precautions as the crisis got worse.
Vicki Hughes, strategic development director for the company, said: “We have vehicles coming onto the site every day to collect bedding which is then delivered to destinations, including farms, all over the country.”
“We also have lorries delivering wood for recycling. It is vital that we do all we can not only to keep our site free from infection, but to help prevent the spread of the disease nationally.”
Disruption
Foot-and-mouth disease, which cause blisters on the feet and in the mouth and occurs cattle and pigs, is highly contagious and led to the slaughter of millions of cattle and sheep in the UK in 2001 and widespread disruption to the recycling industry in the UK (see letsrecycle.com story) .
On Thursday night, a new outbreak was discovered on a Surrey farm and is believed to have derived from a nearby laboratory producing foot and mouth vaccines.
A spokesperson for Defra said: “This incident remains at an early stage. It is too soon to reach any firm conclusions. All potential sources of the virus will continue to be investigated. All other precautionary measures announced yesterday remain in place.”
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