Inspectors Continue To Trace Foot-And-Mouth Outbreak

Health inspectors are continuing to investigate the outbreak of foot-and-mouth at two farms in Surrey to find the cause.

A number of lines of inquiry are being investigated, including the possibility that employees from a nearby research site could have spread the virus.

The Health and Safety Executive said that there was the possibility that the virus had been spread by "human movement" or "accidental or deliberate transfer" of materials from the site.

The HSE's preliminary findings revealed a "strong possibility" that the nearby Pirbright research centre - which houses both the private company Merial Animal Health and the government-run Institute for Animal Health (IAH) - was the source of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

It said that the chances of the virus being spread by flooding or through the air was "negligible".

It was earlier identified that the virus found at the first farm was the same as that stocked on the premises of both research facilities.

Merial had around 10,000 litres of the virus as it produced vaccines, while the IAH had much smaller amounts, reported to be less than 10 mililitres in each case, which were used in small-scale experiments.

The first outbreak of the virus was discovered at Woolford Farm, near Guilford, on Friday and this was followed by a second outbreak at a second farm, close to the farm where the first outbreak occurred, on Monday.

A total of 214 cattle have been culled as a result of the discovery of the virus. However, it was revealed on Wednesday that a cull of livestock was taking place at a third farm in Surrey, close to the other two farms that were infected, as a precautionary measure.

A nationwide ban on the movement of cows, sheep and pigs was put in place, as well as an export ban. However, it was announced on Wednesday that the livestock movement ban will be eased from midnight.

(KMcA)