The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said Thursday that the latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in southern England was probably caused by the same strain found in August.
A spokesman for the department said initial tests suggest that the strain found in Egham, Surrey, was similar to that from the Pirbright research site in Surrey, which was blamed for the August cases.
The infected cattle in the latest outbreak are on a farm 10 about 15 km from the Pirbright site.
The government is facing criticism that it was too quick to declare Britain foot-and-mouth free last week.
A 10 km control zone around the affected site was set up near Egham on Wednesday, and up to 300 cattle and a small number of pigs were being culled on the farm.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown chaired a COBRA meeting, Britain's top emergency contingencies cabinet, Wednesday afternoon on the new outbreak. A movement ban on cattle, sheep, pigs and other ruminants was imposed in England, and parallel arrangements were being made in Scotland and Welsh.
The European Commission has banned all live animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease from being exported from Britain.
Foot-and-mouth was confirmed in a head of cattle at Woolford Farm in Surrey on Aug. 3 and a second case was confirmed at a farm nearby on Aug. 7.
A report into the previous outbreak found that the disease was probably caused by leaking drains, heavy rain and building work at the area where the disease was originally found.
Source: Xinhua
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