LONDON — The government's chief scientific adviser said Thursday that Britain's culling policy has brought the foot-and-mouth epidemic “fully under control.”

        Chief Scientist David King said the average daily tally of new cases had dropped to 23 from 43 at the end of March.

        “On the basis of the fall in the number of cases being reported, the epidemic now is fully under control,” Mr. King said.

Farmer David Hull (left) is visited in Essex Thursday by Britain's Conservative opposition leader William Hague (right) and his Tory party colleague Michael Portillo. (Associated Press photo) | ZOOM |

        But he warned that it would be a “bumpy ride” until the livestock scourge is eliminated altogether: “As the epidemic comes under control it becomes more imperative that the controls remain.”

        In a sign of growing resistance to the government's policy of slaughtering healthy animals adjacent to affected farms, more than 100 protesters Thursday barricaded entry to a farm run by learning-disabled people to prevent the animals from being destroyed.

        The 100 sheep and 60 healthy dairy cattle bred at the charity-run Oaklands Park Farm in Gloucestershire were earmarked for slaughter after the highly contagious disease was found on a neighboring farm.

        Agriculture Ministry officials said Thursday they would not force their way onto the farm, and a spokesman promised the case would be reviewed.

        With almost 1,400 confirmed cases of the disease — and the tally still rising daily — the national economy is hurting.

        The Institute of Directors, which represents business leaders, said Thursday the epidemic has already cost British companies $30 billion. The losses could double if it runs until July, the group said.

        A survey of 600 businesses showed at least a third of smaller businesses and half of larger ones had seen their profits affected, the institute said. So far, smaller businesses had lost an average of $75,000 and larger ones an average of $300,000, it said.

        The National Farmers Union has estimated that farmers were losing $360 million a month.

        Government officials held another round of talks Thursday with the National Farmers' Union about whether to begin a limited vaccination program. But other countries will not accept meat and animals from a vaccinating country.

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