All the sheep on a farm in southern England will be slaughtered after blood tests suggested they had contracted foot and mouth disease, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. The sheep are on a farm inside the protection zone west of London set up last week when a new outbreak of the disease was discovered and hundreds of pigs and cattle were culled.
"Initial blood tests on clinically healthy sheep on a farm within the Protection Zone suggest exposure to FMD (foot and mouth disease)," the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement on its Web site. These animals were identified as part of the surveillance work that is being carried out in the area. All animals on the premises are being slaughtered on suspicion. Further laboratory tests are ongoing," it said.
Two nearby sites were hit last week by foot and mouth. The first of those came less than 24 hours after EU veterinary experts agreed to declare Britain free of foot and mouth from November 9 and lift an export ban -- imposed after the disease was found on two farms in July and August. (Reuters)
