The British government said today that exhaustive testing had shown a new foot-and-mouth scare in the north of England to be a false alarm.
"No traces of foot-and-mouth have been found following extensive tests that were concluded this morning," a government spokesman said. "We can now start to lift the bans on livestock movements."
Tests on two suspect sheep showing foot-and-mouth symptoms sparked fears in rural England of a repeat of last year's epidemic, which led to millions of animals being slaughtered and ruined large sections of the rural economy.
The panic set off by the discovery in Hawnby, North Yorkshire, even rippled through currency markets, with the pound sliding overnight on Tuesday on the news.
The two sheep were found to have lesions in the mouth during a regular inspection. They were destroyed and samples were taken from them and a further 150 sheep on the same farm, government officials said.
British Agriculture Minister Mr Elliot Morley said the incident underscored the need for farmers and vets to remain vigilant and maintain the highest standards of biosecurity.
"We must take no chances whatsoever with this virulent disease," he said in a statement.
Farmers are still scarred by the experience of 2001, when the countryside was blighted by smouldering mass graves for cattle and even British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair was forced to delay a general election.
Britain only managed to declare itself foot-and-mouth free last month, almost a year after the initial outbreak.
The National Farmers' Union remains concerned about the standard of controls on illegal meat imports, seen by many as the cause of Britain's outbreak.
The epidemic cost Britain's economy billions of pounds, and rural communities say they will need years to recover.