DEFRA confirms fresh case of Foot and Mouth Disease

An outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, a highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral infection of cattle and pigs, apparently is spreading faster in the United Kingdom as the British health officials have extended a foot-and-mouth protection zone around farms in the Egham area of Surrey, southern England.

The British Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)confirmed Sunday that an animal found with suspected symptoms on a farm in southern England has tested positive for the disease, bringing the overall number of affected animals who have been tested positive for the disease to six since the initial outbreak appeared in the country on Aug 3 this year.

"Positive test results for foot-and-mouth disease have now been confirmed at the site where it was decided that cattle should be slaughtered on suspicion," media reports cited a spokeswoman for the DEFRA as saying.

The disease, also known as ‘Bluetongue’, has also been confirmed at three other farms in the Egham, west of London area during the last two weeks.

Government vets have intensified their investigation for a possible new case of foot-and-mouth disease in southern England after the Hampshire animal was tested positive for the livestock virus, bluetongue.

The health authorities have set up a 3-kilometers temporary control zone around a farm, which is near Petersfield, Hampshire, about 70 kilometres from premises near Egham where the disease was confirmed earlier this month.

'This is a precautionary measure following an veterinary assessment of clinical signs,' the DEFRA said in a statement. “It remains essential for animal keepers to practice the highest standards of biosecurity, remain vigilant for disease and report any suspicions immediately. Cattle owners should examine their livestock twice a day.”

Around 40 cows have been culled on the site which is within the three-kilometer protection zone set up close to the latest reported cases in Surrey, according to the DEFRA.
This year’s outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom was first confirmed by the DEFRA on August 3, 2007 in the parish of Normandy, Surrey. Symptoms were first reported late on farmland located in Normandy in Surrey, which was subsequently isolated and placed under restrictions.

After initial testing it was revealed that 60 cattle were infected with foot-and-mouth disease. The virus was identified as the FMDV 01 BFS 67, the same strain that was discovered in August and September near the government-funded Institute for Animal Health, a diagnostic laboratory, and Merial Animal Health, a U.K. unit of the U.S.-French pharmaceutical firm Merial Ltd. The site was blamed for leaking the virus, which was identified as a possible source of infection, into the environment over the summer.

The bluetongue virus does not affect humans and cannot be spread through the consumption of milk and meat. Bluetongue only affects wild and domestic ruminants, which include sheep, pigs, goats, deer as well as cattle. Out of all, sheep are the most susceptible, with up to 70% of an infected flock dying from the virus.

The early symptoms of this infectious disease are fever, mucus lining the animal's mouth, nose and eyes. The early visible characteristic also includes salivation and frothing.