Seventh foot-and-mouth case is confirmed
A seventh outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at a cattle and sheep farm in Devon has been confirmed by British Agriculture Ministry officials.
British government vets say a farm at Highampton has been sealed off following the discovery of the disease.
It is the second outbreak of foot-and-mouth to be confirmed in Devon.
Britain's Chief Veterinary Officer Jim Scudamore says he is reasonably certain that the farmer, who is a sheep dealer, had been exporting to Europe, although there would have been no exports since the European Union ban came into place last week.
The Highampton farm has 600 cattle and 1,500 hundred sheep and the farmer runs 13 premises, 11 in Devon and two in Cornwall, all of which will now have to inspected by MAFF vets.
The other Devon outbreak is at a cattle farm in Beaworthy, near Okehampton.
Britain's Agriculture Minister Nick Brown says vets also believe the disease has spread from its likely origin at Burnside Farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, to a neighbouring farm.
The outbreak has yet to be confirmed, and the British Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food says it is not known if there are links between the Beaworthy farm and those in Northumberland or Essex.
