Daily Mail Headline; 'Plume of foot and mouth virus casts 30-mile shadow of fear' says: 'A plume of foot and mouth virus could have infected farms 30 miles from the initial outbreak, a vaccine expert warned yesterday. Professor Ian Jones said: "We know that this virus can, in the right conditions, spread for up to 30 miles on the air."He added that while sunlight and warmth kill the virus, the colder wet conditions of the last few months were perfect for it to have dispersed from the suspected source in Surrey. "It could have spread as far as the south coast, or northwards across London."
Foot and mouth disease takes a week to show itself - meaning the extent of the crisis will not be fully known until next weekend. But the outbreak in the village of Normandy, near Wanborough, has already had disastrous consequences. Britain will today be placed in quarantine by the rest of the world with a ban on the import of our meat, dairy products and livestock.
The measures could cost farmers and food manufacturers more than £15 million a week for at least three months. Tourist chiefs also fear a repeat of 2001, when the industry lost £900million after officials warned holidaymakers to stay away from the British countryside.
