A suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease has been detected on a second farm in the heart of Dartmoor, the British Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) confirmed today.
Investigations are under way into the discovery at the farm at Widecombe in the Moor, owned by the Prince of Wales.
The farm is understood to be a mile or two from the outbreak confirmed on Sunday at Dunna Bridge Farm, Two Bridges, run by Roger and Marion Winsor.
MAFF officials are in the process of trying to establish whether the Dunna Bridge case is linked to other outbreaks already confirmed in Devon.
If the outbreak is unconnected - meaning it could have been spreadvia the wind or birds - there could be a cull among thousands of sheep and cattle which roam the moor.
There are up to 46,000 sheep and cattle on the moor, which has a 5,000-year-old farming tradition and reports from a MAFF vet on the cause of the Dunna Bridge outbreak are currently being analysed.
The confirmation of the disease at Dunna Bridge farm meant the slaughter of 800 sheep and 170 beef cattle.
PA