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Confirmed Foot-and-Mouth Cases Rise to 16 in Britain
Four more cases of foot-and- mouth disease have been confirmed on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 16 in Britain.
The government's chief veterinary officer Jim Scudamore said the new cases have been found in Anglesey, Durham County, Lancashire and Northamptonshire, not all linked to those sites which were already known to be affected.
The carcasses of hundreds of cows, sheep and pigs have been burned at the affected farms and abattoirs, as the only way to stop the spread of the disease.
But Scudamore warned that infected feed given to pigs was the most likely source. He said the government would have to trace the movement of thousands of animals out of Hexham and Carlisle markets that moved from Northumberland to Devon between February 13 and 16.
All pigs, goats and cattle which were in the two markets in the middle of February would have to be traced, a task that would involve checking the records of thousands of animals in that period.
With industry facing its worst disaster since the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis, much of the countryside came to a standstill as schools were closed and events canceled in a frantic attempt to stop the disease.
Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said some people were not responding to appeals to stay away from the countryside. "I am looking very, very hard indeed at whether we should take statutory powers to close public footpaths where they run near livestock holdings," he said.
Europe was on high alert as the number of confirmed cases in Britain kept increasing.
The European Union (EU) vets met in Brussels to discuss how to stop foot-and-mouth disease devastating farms across the continent.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said maximum resources would be ploughed into stemming the disease.
"Whatever is needed to tackle and eradicate it, those steps we will take," he said.
The latest confirmed cases were a bitter blow to farmers who had hoped the spread of the disease was limited.
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