UK - Pigs [rare breed] isolated over swine flu fear

[FrenchieGirl]

Pigs isolated over swine flu fear

Members of the public have been stopped from going near two breeds of rare pigs at a Cambridgeshire farm over fears the animals could contract swine flu.

Tamworth and Gloucester Old Spots at Wimpole Hall Home Farm, near Cambridge, are in quarantine away from visitors.

Stockman Mark Field told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire that the chances of humans passing it to animals was "extremely low".

But he said the National Trust-run farm did not want to take any chances.

[Lizw]

Re: UK - Pigs [rare breed] isolated over swine flu fear

Pigs isolated over swine flu fear

Members of the public have been stopped from going near two breeds of rare pigs at a Cambridgeshire farm over fears the animals could contract swine flu.

Tamworth and Gloucester Old Spots at Wimpole Hall Home Farm, near Cambridge, are in quarantine away from visitors.

Stockman Mark Field told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire that the chances of humans passing it to animals was "extremely low".

But he said the National Trust-run farm did not want to take any chances.

Good for them! Too many old heritage breeds have been lost already. I remember reading of people who had one or two rare-breed cows hiding them in their basements to keep them from being killed during the mad cow disease scare--cows that had no possibility of having contracted the disease but which would have been killed anyway. The Tamworth pig is thought to be the most direct descendant of the old native swine of England, and it would be tragic for them to be carelessly infected.

[Road_Hog]

Re: UK - Pigs [rare breed] isolated over swine flu fear

Members of the public have been stopped from going near two breeds of rare pigs at a Cambridgeshire farm over fears the animals could contract swine flu.

Tamworth and Gloucester Old Spots at Wimpole Hall Home Farm, near Cambridge, are in quarantine away from visitors.

For people not familiar with Wimpole Hall Home Farm, this is not a farm in the traditional sense. This is a National Trust property which has tens of thousands of visitors a year (my company has even use some of them rooms as conference facilities) to visit it (Stately Home). It also has a farm connected to it as another visitor attraction. So basically they're just closing off part of the attraction rather than hiding the pigs away.

http://www.wimpole.org/