The British Minister for Agriculture, Mr Nick Brown, has made a worldwide appeal for vets as the government announced plans for speeding up the foot-and-
mouth cull.
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As wagon-loads of dead sheep were tipped into the first massive burial pit dug by the British army, Mr Brown said more needed to be done to contain the disease quickly.
He was speaking just 10 miles from an airfield at Great Orton in Cumbria where a total of 1,200 carcasses were being buried.
The disease has now spread to the heart of the Lake District, where park managers fear it could spell doom for the farming and tourism industries.
There are now 613 cases of foot-and-mouth in the UK after six more were confirmed today, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF).
Mr Brown made the vets appeal during his visit to Cumbria, where he was heckled by demonstrators as he arrived in Carlisle for a meeting with farmers and their leaders.
He said: "We have already disposed of more animals in this disease outbreak than in the 1967 outbreak. There has been an enormous amount of work done already.
"We have been discussing how we can get the time from reportage to slaughter on the farm improved. That is a question of resources, especially veterinary resources."
Calling on vets worldwide to help Britain resolve the crisis, Mr Brown said the priority was to speed up the disposal process.
As part of this, MAFF has also changed the rules on the valuation of animals.
Waiting for a valuation has often held up the slaughter process but, from now on, farmers will be given the option of receiving payments at a standard flat-rate instead.
The government is also considering the use of vaccination, but Mr Brown said this policy would only be pursued if it was recommended by Mr Jim Scudamore, the chief vet.
The six new cases confirmed by MAFF today are in Shropshire, County Durham, two in Dumfries and Galloway, and two in Cumbria .
PA