Senior Department of Agriculture officials are to examine an interim report released by the British authorities last night, which said there is a "real possibility" that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on a Surrey farm was caused by human movement.
In what could be a blow to hopes that the disease could be contained within the current exclusion zone, the report identified a variety of potential routes for "accidental or deliberate transfer" of material from the site of two laboratories in Pirbright.
Both were working on the strain of the disease involved in the farm outbreak, although the private Merial laboratory was producing it in large quantities while the government-run Institute for Animal Health was using small amounts for research.
Further interviews will be conducted today, with investigators expected to focus on whether any lapse in biosecurity procedures took place. Both laboratories have insisted they have found no evidence of a breach in biosecurity.
It has also emerged that cattle were moved in recent weeks from a farm where a second outbreak of the disease was formally confirmed yesterday. The farm is located within the 3km exclusion zone.
Authorities are investigating whether some cattle were transferred to an abattoir for slaughter which could serve to reduce the risk of this infection having spread.
While last night's report by the British Health and Safety Executive stopped short of pinpointing the laboratories as the definitive source of the strain involved in the farm outbreak, it said the indications were that this was a "strong possibility".
Similarly, although it had been thought that recent flooding in the area may have led to contamination of the farm, the report states that this was "negligible due to the distance, topography and direction of flow". However, further investigation is being carried out into the drainage on the Pirbright site.
The report adds that the likelihood of an airborne release of the virus is negligible.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture last night said the British report would be studied by senior officials. "It will be examined in the context of any impact it might have on restrictions in place here," he said. However, it was "too early to say" what this might be.
Sources say the foot-and-mouth virus could be transferred on an individual's shoe or clothing. It can also take four to 10 days before clinical signs appear. "If it is being spread by human movement, it could make a joke of the current exclusion zone," one source said.
In a statement released yesterday before details of last night's report emerged, Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said she was satisfied that no measures other than those currently in place were required. She described confirmation of the second case in Surrey as "disappointing but not surprising, given its proximity to the first case".
British prime minister Gordon Brown last night insisted that efforts to contain and eradicate the disease would continue. He said there would be a second report from the British HSE today.
Meanwhile, some Scottish abattoirs should be able to resume controlled livestock slaughtering from today. This is due to an easing of restrictions imposed after the outbreak in England.