Foot and mouth culling continues
Updated on 22 September 2007
The foot and mouth culling and disinfecting continue as a new outbreak is discovered.
David Sheldrake's face says it all. His prized cattle have been culled in a day, his livelihood is in tatters - his daughter does her best to comfort him.
"We fought like hell and unfortunately we've lost." - David Sheldrake, farmer
Vigorous efforts were made to keep Beaumont Farm clean. DEFRA officials gave it the all clear on Wednesday in a routine check. But yesterday blisters appeared on one of the cattle - the tell tale sign of foot and mouth. And today the whole herd was culled.
This is the fourth outbreak of foot and mouth in Surrey in the last nine days. Farmers in this close knit community are desperate to know why.
'We fought like hell and unfortunately we've lost'David Sheldrake, farmer
This wasn't meant to happen. The UK was declared free of foot and mouth at the beginning of this month following two earlier outbreaks in august blamed on a leak at the nearby Pirbright laboratory.
Since then there have been another FOUR outbreaks in and around Egham. On 12 September foot and mouth was found in cattle at Milton Park Farm. The next day an outbreak was confirmed in animals on Whitehall Farm next door - in that case the blisters on animals were ten days old.
On the 17 September the disease was found at Klondyke Farm a mile away - in that case the blisters were 20 days old.And then yesterday DEFRA officials confirmed they'd found foot and mouth at Beaumont Farm - three miles from Klondyke.
There's some consolation that all the cases are within a three kilometre surveillance area -
Part of the Queens estate at Windsor is now within the smaller protection zone.
Experts are warning more cases are likely - Mr Sheldrake wont be the last farmer to suffer.
