At the time of going to press, the Government has finally admitted that the foot and mouth crisis will last for months, and while members of the farming community and independent scientists are publicly voicing their concerns that the epidemic is escalating out of control, the Government is continuing to insist that the crisis is under control.

On the subject of epidemics, recent scare stories of a population explosion in rats have been hitting the newspapers. However, without any up-to-date, accurate, comparable data on the true extent of the problem, who knows the true picture? On page 106, I look at the CIEH's proposals to work with the WHO to produce a major study on the subject of urban pest control. Then, on page 109, Stephen Battersby and Joanne Webster examine the varied zoonotic species carried by urban and rural rats and investigate the links between rat infestations and public health.

The FSA is concerned that the UK could be facing a hidden food poisoning epidemic, with a survey indicating that food poisoning and BSE top the list of things the public are most concerned about with regard to food safety issues. With this in mind, Nick Warburton probes the world of celebrity chefs and television cookery programmes to see if an opportunity to educate as well as entertain is being lost.

With the recent filming of a BBC special update for "A Life of Grime", I spent a day with Mike Cording to find out what life as an enforcement officer is really like once the cameras have stopped rolling (page 118).

The health and safety of employees in zoos and wildlife parks is once again under the spotlight and on page 125, we examine some of the proposals that have been put forward over the last few years by the Government and expert groups in an effort to modernise the system. Finally, Gill Sainsbury takes a look at best value and benchmarking on page 116, and details the process management techniques that Chelmsford BC has implemented in order to achieve results. Could your local authority benefit from a less traditional approach when it comes to delivering services competitively and at best cost?

Tracey Khanna, Editor