Foot-And-Mouth Disease Spreads Across Britain

Britain confirmed on Sunday that an outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth livestock disease had spread right across the country as vets detected cases from the north east right down to the deep south west.

The Ministry of Agriculture said fresh cases of the disease had been found on a farm in Beaworthy, Devon, in the south west of England -- the country's biggest livestock area.

"The farm has around 600 cattle and 1,500 sheep," Britain's chief veterinary officer Jim Scudamore told a news conference.

The greatest concern was the geographical spread of the Devon farmer's business.

"The farmer has 13 premises altogether. He is also a sheep dealer and travels the country, particularly to Cumbria and the Carlisle area (near the border between England and Scotland)," Scudamore said.

He said all 13 farms had been put under restriction.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown told the news conference the fresh case was "a serious development" in an outbreak that has brought Britain's livestock industry to a halt.

The initial cases of foot-and-mouth in the current outbreak -- the first in Britain for decades -- were identified last week among 28 pigs at an abattoir in Essex, south east England.

The discovery prompted an immediate European ban on exports of British animals, fresh meat and milk.

But fears grew on Sunday that the disease may already have been exported beyond Britain's borders.

"With think some sheep from this farm (in Devon) may have been exported prior to the export ban," Scudamore said.

The government has also banned all transport of livestock within Britain in an attempt to stop a further spread of the disease, which affects pigs, cows, sheep and goats but is harmless to humans.

Speaking to BBC television earlier on Sunday, Brown confirmed that Burnside Farm in northeast England -- around 400 miles (600 km) from Devon -- was thought to be the source of the disease outbreak. "That is the theory we are working on."

Veterinary experts were also investigating another suspected case in northeast England, close to Burnside Farm.

Scudamore said that to date around 500 cattle, 2,000 pigs and 250 sheep suspected of having or being at risk of infection with foot-and-mouth had been slaughtered.










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