risks of foot and mouth disease after being accused of doing too little too late.

Vets on the Island said despite the threat of the contagious disease entering Bermuda, they had still not had an official meeting with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

And they said there was no action plan in place should a case be found among the Island's cows, goats and sheep.

But vet Dr. Andrew Madeiros, who is chairman of the Bermuda Veterinary Association, said it was not too late for people to be educated about how to prevent the disease coming onto the Island. And he urged everyone planning to enter or leave Europe, especially Britain, to take steps before coming back to Bermuda. Mr. Madeiros hit out at director of Agriculture and Fisheries John Barnes, who claimed that a meeting had been held between vets to discuss foot and mouth.

But yesterday Mr. Madeiros said that was purely a social gathering, organised many weeks ago, where they happened to discuss the issue.

No official meetings had been held and no advice or action plan had been arranged, he said.

In his opinion, he believed the Government department was being too nonchalant about the whole issue and the threat to Bermuda. "We realise that not everyone coming into Bermuda can be thoroughly checked and disinfected, we have never said that, but we think more could be done to educate people on the risks and how to avoid them,'' said the vet.

"We should be giving leaflets to people who are flying out of Bermuda to Europe, we should be having a local educational campaign. So far, unless you watch BBC World News or read the overseas newspapers, you would know little about the disease.

"The thing we are lacking in Bermuda is advice from Government. We simply need more local information so people know what to do.'' Dr. Madeiros said even if Bermuda managed to protect its own animals from the disease, it had a responsibility, as a global player, to other countries. But he said if there was an outbreak here, it would be a disaster for dairy farmers, and the knock on effect would be that all US flights would probably cease and tourism and business would be affected.

Fellow vet, Dr. Maureen Ware-Cieters said she agreed with Mr. Barnes that we should be pragmatic about the issue, but she also said merely claiming that Bermuda was ahead of the US in terms of taking action was not enough. She said: "People in Bermuda have not been told anything about the disease. What has not been publicised is what it means to Bermuda. Too little has been done far too late. With the amount of people in Bermuda coming and going from Europe, I think we have been very lucky so far.

Concern over lack of information on deadly outbreak "The potential for the spread of the disease is real, but we do not even have an action plan for vets if a case of foot and mouth disease is found here.

"I know what the plan would be in Britain, Germany and Switzerland, yet I don't know what it is in Bermuda.

"I think it is shocking that the vets have not been officially questioned and it has not been properly discussed.'' But Mr. Barnes said he had spoken to vets and planned to speak to them again, but said they were very difficult to get hold of as they were busy. And he said he had asked them to pass some written comments to his office, which the vets claimed they were only given five hours to prepare.

But Mr. Barnes said his department was taking action.

On Thursday night, he said there were six Government workers at Bermuda International Airport questioning passengers from both a British Airways London flight and an American flight.

He said they were asked where they had been, whether they had come into contact with farmland, farm animals, or affected areas, and were asked what, if any, dairy and meat products they were carrying.

All those passengers who raised concerns were interviewed further.

Disinfectant was also on hand if passengers were suspected of carrying the disease.

Mr. Barnes said: "We are down there asking questions and customs officers are also doing everything they can.

"We realise that public awareness and education are the keys and we have been trying to get the message out through the Royal Gazette and its competitors.

"We have been on to the dairy farmers because they are the ones who will have problems if it gets here. We have told them not to allow anyone on to their farms unless they know who it is.

"And we have had quite a few calls from people leaving the Island asking what they should do. We would urge people to call us.'' Mr. Barnes said he did not think people would read leaflets about the risks, which is why he believed questioning was better.

But he said it should also be remembered that people flying from airports near to affected areas in the UK were being disinfected before being allowed to board the planes.

And he said some people living directly in affected areas and farms in Britain were not even being allowed out of their homes for fear of spreading the disease.

However, he said air passengers had to use their common sense, too.

He said during the question sessions at the airport on Thursday, some passengers were continuing to carry dairy products and meat onto the Island from Britain. This, he said, was despite Britain banning an export of them from the UK.

He added: "If someone wants to smuggle the disease in, they can. We found people coming in from England who were carrying meat. Others had cheese and other products with them.

"We cannot overly stress the public education aspect. People need to be aware.'' Dr. Ware-Cieters said if the disease did hit Bermuda it would lead to many problems. Not least of them would be how to slaughter the animals and where to put the carcasses.

But she also said if we vaccinated unaffected animals, Bermuda would lose its foot and mouth-free status, leading to the halt of any animal movement out of the Island.

"We cannot and should not put ourselves in that position,'' she added.

"Action has to be taken now.''