UK Farmers Facing Tax for Cattle Outbreaks

Investigators target 'bio security' at labs making vaccine

(NEWSER) - British officials are pursuing the possibility that latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease could be the result of sabotage, the Times reports. They've ruled out water leaks spreading the virus from a research lab to nearby farms,and have concluded that "release by human movement must be considered a real possibility," said a report prepared for Gordon Brown. More»

Ban lifted, but farmers urged to be wary of big losses

(NEWSER) - A third suspected case of foot and mouth disease has been located in southern England, health officials said, as the EU lifted a ban on slaughtering animals but kept up the prohibition on exporting animal products. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that British veterinary investigators pinpointed two research labs they say have a “strong probability” of initiating the outbreak. More»

Vaccine may have leaked and spread to nearby farm

(NEWSER) - An English research lab is the likely source of a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the Guardian reports. British government officials believe a batch of experimental vaccine leaked and spread to a nearby farm. Scientists were tipped to the possible leak by the fact that the strain of the virus is not one that occurs naturally, but is a vaccine strain. More»

New outbreak forces farm quarantine, ban on livestock transport

(NEWSER) - Britain faces its first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in six years after a herd of beef cattle in Guildford tested positive, reports the Independent. The news forced Gordon Brown to cancel his vacation as the government introduced emergency measures banning all transportation of cattle and pigs and throwing up a "protection zone" in the region. More»

(NEWSER) - Feeding cows parts of corn plants that farmers currently discard could eventually lead to American energy independence, Wired reports. An ammonia treatment applied to corn “stover” could make it palatable to cattle, freeing up more land for the production of ethanol, a Michigan State researcher says. That could, in turn, protect untouched land from cultivation for biofuels. More»