A second herd of cattle in southern Britain has contracted foot-and-mouth disease, the British government said today.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said culling of animals had already taken place at the farm, which officials said was within one of two three-kilometre exclusion zones set up around a farm where foot and mouth was first found last week and the site of two research laboratories which have handled the virus.
The outbreak poses an immediate threat to Britain's livestock industry, whose meat exports are worth more than $1 billion a year and raises fears that the virus is spreading.
"We've got to keep on top of this outbreak and make sure it doesn't spread anywhere else," Mr Benn said.
The agriculture ministry denied reports that a third suspected case had been found near the first confirmed site.
Foot and mouth disease, which affects cloven-hoofed animals and can be carried on the wind, was confirmed in a small herd of cattle on a farm in Surrey, southwest of London, on Friday. The cattle were destroyed and protection zones set up.
It was the first outbreak of the disease in Britain since 2001, when the illness caused devastation among the farming community.
More than six million animals were burnt, and the crisis cost agriculture and the rural tourism industry around £8.5 billion.
Following the discovery of the disease on Friday, the European Union banned all British exports of fresh meat, live animals and milk products. Britain's exports of meat are worth more than $1 billion a year.
It is still not clear how the outbreak of the disease began, but investigators are focusing on two animal research labs - one run by the government, the other private - that are about eight kilometres from where the disease first erupted.
They are also considering whether recent floods may have contributed to the transmission of the virus.
To try to limit the spread of the disease, the government has banned the movement of farm animals nationwide. That is expected to last for at least several weeks and could have a deep economic impact on farming.