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Foot-and-Mouth Turns Up at Second Farm

New suspicions that virus may have spread in floodwaters

By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 7, 2007 4:46 AM CDT

(Newser) – England is culling a second herd of cattle feared to have foot-and-mouth disease. The animals were showing symptoms on an unidentified farm within a restricted zone around the area southwest of London where the first outbreak occurred. Investigators were considering the possibility that a flood in July may have spread the virus.

If floodwater was the source, it would add support to the theory that nearby labs that manufacture vaccines for the disease may have leaked the virus into the water supply. The labs have denied any problems with biological waste disposal. "It's awful, unbelievable," said a farmer. "Just when farming was doing well, suddenly you're knocked down again."

Cow
Cow   (Associated Press)
File photo dated March 3 2001 of cow carcasses waiting to be burned, following a foot and mouth outbreak.  British authorities said Friday Aug. 3 2007 that cattle on a farm in southern England had been infected with foot-and-mouth disease. Prime Minister Gordon Brown chaired a meeting of the government's...
File photo dated March 3 2001 of cow carcasses waiting to be burned, following a foot and mouth outbreak. British authorities said Friday Aug. 3 2007 that cattle on a farm in southern England had been...   (Associated Press)
A cow grazes.
A cow grazes.   (Associated Press)
Police officers stand outside the Institute for Animal Health following an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease at a nearby farm in Pirbright, England, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. The investigation into how cattle in Surrey became infected with foot and mouth disease is now focusing on a nearby research laboratory....
Police officers stand outside the Institute for Animal Health following an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease at a nearby farm in Pirbright, England, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. The investigation into how cattle...   (Associated Press)
A British police officer watches a truck believed to be transporting the carcasses of the slaughtered cows  from a cattle farm, where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday, near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. The case is the first...
A British police officer watches a truck believed to be transporting the carcasses of the slaughtered cows from a cattle farm, where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday, near Guildford,...   (Associated Press)
An aerial view of a farm on Westwood Lane in Normandy, Surrey southern England where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been discovered in a heard of sixty cattle, Saturday Aug 4, 2007. Authorities imposed a nationwide ban on moving livestock in a bid to stop the spread...
An aerial view of a farm on Westwood Lane in Normandy, Surrey southern England where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been discovered in a heard of sixty cattle, Saturday Aug 4, 2007. Authorities...   (Associated Press)
An aerial view of a farm on Westwood Lane in Normandy, Surrey southern England where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been discovered in a heard of sixty cattle, Saturday Aug 4, 2007. Authorities imposed a nationwide ban on moving livestock in a bid to stop the spread...
An aerial view of a farm on Westwood Lane in Normandy, Surrey southern England where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been discovered in a heard of sixty cattle, Saturday Aug 4, 2007. Authorities...   (Associated Press)
Police officers block a road Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday. The case is the first in Britain since 2001, when an epidemic devastated the...
Police officers block a road Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease...   (Associated Press)
Police officers stop farm vehicles and pedestrians on a closed off road Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday. The case is the first in Britain...
Police officers stop farm vehicles and pedestrians on a closed off road Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm...   (Associated Press)
A padlock and tapes are seal off a closed footpath Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday. The case is the first in Britain since 2001,...
A padlock and tapes are seal off a closed footpath Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of...   (Associated Press)
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