Foot and mouth disease continues to spread in UK
Pastor Dale Morgan
Foot and mouth disease continues to spread in UK*
By Bonnie Malkin and agencies
Last Updated: 5:34pm BST 19/09/2007
A temporary foot and mouth control zone has been set up around Solihull
after a suspected case of the animal disease was identified near the
Midlands town.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the control
zone was a "precautionary measure" and the disease had not been
confirmed on the farm, which lies just to the south of Birmingham
International Airport.
Foot and mouth suspected in Solihull
Animal health officials are carrying out tests
Animal health officials have carried out an assessment of the animals'
clinical symptoms and lab tests are under way, Defra said.
Once the cordon around Woodhouse Farm was put in place, four officers
from West Midlands police stood guard at the entrance to a
half-mile-long track leading from Catherine-de-Barnes Lane.
Reporters were prevented from passing the officers, but parents
collecting children from dance classes being held at premises which
share the access road with the farm were allowed through.
The farm itself was not visible from the road and no one from Defra was
present at the barrier.
If confirmed the case will be the first of this year's outbreak to occur
outside Surrey.
Solihull, in the West Midlands, is about 100 miles from the site of the
original outbreak in Pirbright.
A statement from Defra said: "The containment and eradication of
foot-and-mouth disease is our top priority.
"It remains essential for animal keepers to practice the highest
standards of biosecurity, remain vigilant for disease and report any
suspicions immediately."
Three new cases near Egham, Surrey, have emerged in the last two weeks -
just days after officials declared the UK free of the disease.
A number of sites outside the county have also been investigated and
several temporary control zones have been set up in recent weeks,
including in Kent and Norfolk.
But all have proved to be false alarms, with no cases of foot and mouth
detected outside of Surrey since the outbreak emerged at the beginning
of August.
The original outbreak has been blamed on the virus escaping from leaking
pipes at the nearby Pirbright laboratory site.
Yesterday the Government's chief vet ruled out vaccination against foot
and mouth despite confirmation the virus had been found on another farm
in Surrey, the third this month.
Debby Reynolds said that the decision not to go ahead with arrangements
for vaccination had been made because the risk of the virus escaping
from the controlled area in Surrey was still considered low.