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Second disease outbreak confirmed
A second case of foot-and-mouth has been confirmed at a farm in Surrey.
Defra said 102 cows were culled at the farm in the 3km protection zone set up around the site of the first outbreak.
Meanwhile, Roger Pride, owner of the first herd to be culled, said in a statement he was shocked and devastated by the outbreak.
"It feels as if my whole world has been turned upside down," he said. The findings of a probe into the source of the outbreak at his farm are due later.
In the statement read out at a National Farmers' Union press conference, Mr Pride said he noticed his cattle were off-colour and drooling last Thursday and called his vet - who advised him to contact Defra.
'Beyond our control'
By the following evening, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had confirmed they had tested positively for foot-and-mouth, he said.
He said the farm had "always practised the highest standards of biosecurity" and no animals had been moved on or off the farm since early June.
He said he believed it was possible a sewer which overflowed into part of the field may have been the cause.
"Whatever the cause of the outbreak, it is obvious that we've been the victims of circumstances far beyond our control," he said.
On Tuesday, a Defra spokesman said laboratory results showed foot-and-mouth at the second site, not far from the first outbreak at Wollford Farm, near Guildford.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said vets first spotted signs of foot-and-mouth on the second farm on Monday, and a swift decision was taken to cull the animals.
He urged farmers to continue to examine their stock.
A 3km (1.8 mile) protection zone and a surveillance zone with a minimum radius of 10km (6.2 miles) is in place around the first site - an announcement is expected on whether it may be expanded later.
'Absolutely devastated'
The source of the second outbreak is unknown but virologist Professor Ian Jones said it was likely to have come from the original contamination source, not a secondary infection from Woolford Farm.
Farmer Laurence Matthews, who owns the land where the second outbreak struck, said the farmer whose cattle were culled, and his family, were "absolutely devastated".
"We were starting to think that maybe this virus had been contained... now with this second outbreak this has set us back again," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"Most farmers... are very, very scared and all activity on farms has almost come to a standstill."
He criticised the failure to close all public footpaths in the protection zone and the fact that the ban on movement meant carcasses could not be transported to an incinerator.
Mr Benn said the issue of footpath closures would be investigated immediately.
A Defra spokesman said footpaths on contaminated premises had been closed off, but there were no plans as yet to close those within the protection zone.
Flood theory
Meanwhile, the findings of the Health and Safety investigation into the source of the first outbreak are also expected.
The strain of the virus found on Woolford farm was being used at both private vaccine manufacturer Merial and the government-funded Institute for Animal Health, both based on the Pirbright complex, four miles away.
Chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds has said it was possible recent floods may have contributed to an accidental release of the virus from one of the labs.
It is thought contaminated water may have been incorrectly disposed of down a drain which then overflowed during heavy rain and carried the contaminated water on to farmland.
The government says no decision has been taken on whether to vaccinate livestock, but 300,000 doses have been ordered from Merial - to ensure it is ready if needed.
The National Farmers' Union, which has opposed the use of vaccination in the past, said the government should have the capability to use it "as an option", depending on the "exact circumstances".
NFU head of communications Anthony Gibson praised the response so far, saying: "I think that everything that could have been done, has been done. I think the lessons, so far, have been learned from what went wrong in the 2001 outbreak."
Security breach denied
Both Merial and the institute have denied any breach in bio-security procedures, which are now being independently reviewed.
The government has banned the movement of all livestock across Britain, while the European Commission has formalised a ban on British exports of meat, milk products and live animals.
Northern Ireland, which has imposed a ban on all cattle, sheep and pigs from Britain, has been excluded.
Trading standards officers in Lincolnshire confirmed on Monday they were investigating two cases of alleged illegal movement of livestock.
The NFU has estimated the outbreak could cost "tens of millions of pounds", affecting not just farmers but related industries, such as abattoirs and meat packaging plants.
A second case of foot-and-mouth has been confirmed at a farm in Surrey.
Defra said 102 cows were culled at the farm in the 3km protection zone set up around the site of the first outbreak.
Meanwhile, Roger Pride, owner of the first herd to be culled, said in a statement he was shocked and devastated by the outbreak.
"It feels as if my whole world has been turned upside down," he said. The findings of a probe into the source of the outbreak at his farm are due later.
In the statement read out at a National Farmers' Union press conference, Mr Pride said he noticed his cattle were off-colour and drooling last Thursday and called his vet - who advised him to contact Defra.
'Beyond our control'
By the following evening, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had confirmed they had tested positively for foot-and-mouth, he said.
He said the farm had "always practised the highest standards of biosecurity" and no animals had been moved on or off the farm since early June.
He said he believed it was possible a sewer which overflowed into part of the field may have been the cause.
"Whatever the cause of the outbreak, it is obvious that we've been the victims of circumstances far beyond our control," he said.
On Tuesday, a Defra spokesman said laboratory results showed foot-and-mouth at the second site, not far from the first outbreak at Wollford Farm, near Guildford.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said vets first spotted signs of foot-and-mouth on the second farm on Monday, and a swift decision was taken to cull the animals.
He urged farmers to continue to examine their stock.
A 3km (1.8 mile) protection zone and a surveillance zone with a minimum radius of 10km (6.2 miles) is in place around the first site - an announcement is expected on whether it may be expanded later.
'Absolutely devastated'
The source of the second outbreak is unknown but virologist Professor Ian Jones said it was likely to have come from the original contamination source, not a secondary infection from Woolford Farm.
Farmer Laurence Matthews, who owns the land where the second outbreak struck, said the farmer whose cattle were culled, and his family, were "absolutely devastated".
"We were starting to think that maybe this virus had been contained... now with this second outbreak this has set us back again," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"Most farmers... are very, very scared and all activity on farms has almost come to a standstill."
He criticised the failure to close all public footpaths in the protection zone and the fact that the ban on movement meant carcasses could not be transported to an incinerator.
Mr Benn said the issue of footpath closures would be investigated immediately.
A Defra spokesman said footpaths on contaminated premises had been closed off, but there were no plans as yet to close those within the protection zone.
Flood theory
Meanwhile, the findings of the Health and Safety investigation into the source of the first outbreak are also expected.
The strain of the virus found on Woolford farm was being used at both private vaccine manufacturer Merial and the government-funded Institute for Animal Health, both based on the Pirbright complex, four miles away.
Chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds has said it was possible recent floods may have contributed to an accidental release of the virus from one of the labs.
It is thought contaminated water may have been incorrectly disposed of down a drain which then overflowed during heavy rain and carried the contaminated water on to farmland.
The government says no decision has been taken on whether to vaccinate livestock, but 300,000 doses have been ordered from Merial - to ensure it is ready if needed.
The National Farmers' Union, which has opposed the use of vaccination in the past, said the government should have the capability to use it "as an option", depending on the "exact circumstances".
NFU head of communications Anthony Gibson praised the response so far, saying: "I think that everything that could have been done, has been done. I think the lessons, so far, have been learned from what went wrong in the 2001 outbreak."
Security breach denied
Both Merial and the institute have denied any breach in bio-security procedures, which are now being independently reviewed.
The government has banned the movement of all livestock across Britain, while the European Commission has formalised a ban on British exports of meat, milk products and live animals.
Northern Ireland, which has imposed a ban on all cattle, sheep and pigs from Britain, has been excluded.
Trading standards officers in Lincolnshire confirmed on Monday they were investigating two cases of alleged illegal movement of livestock.
The NFU has estimated the outbreak could cost "tens of millions of pounds", affecting not just farmers but related industries, such as abattoirs and meat packaging plants.
Interesting....coincidence?
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