Relief as farm gets all clear

Livestock farmers in the West Midlands were breathing a sigh of relief today after a farm was declared clear of foot-and-mouth disease.

Last night Defra confirmed that laboratory results showed no sign of foot and mouth, and the control zone was lifted.

There have so far been five confirmed cases of the disease in Surrey since the initial outbreak at the start of August.

A number of sites outside Surrey have also been investigated and several control zones set up, but these have all proved to be false alarms.

The control zone around Woodhouse Farm was set up as a precautionary measure on Wednesday, hours after chief vet Debby Reynolds urged farmers to undertake twice-daily inspections of their cattle in a bid to eradicate foot and mouth.

But a Defra spokeswoman said results had shown no evidence of the disease.

The news came as laboratory results on the latest incidence of foot and mouth in Surrey revealed the strain of the disease was the same as all the other cases in the outbreak.

National Farmers Union Cymru has praised the Welsh Assembly Government for introducing a text message service to alert farmers of the latest developments in the foot-and-mouth crisis.

The Assembly's decision to adopt the new service was a direct result of lobbying from NFU Cymru. The Union is aware of the importance of keeping Welsh farmers up to date with the situation at what is a critical time for the industry.