Foot and mouth: the farmers plight
Updated on 13 September 2007
The grief and despair of farmers in fields surrounding the latest outbreak of foot and mouth that is related to the earlier outbreak.
The Pirbright research laboratories are in the frame again. A leaking pipe is believed to have caused last month's foot and mouth outbreak in Surrey - and initial tests suggest the latest case is the same strain that infected herds in August.
Only last week, the government declared that Britain was free of the disease, and it's now being accused of making its assessment too quickly and allowing animal movements to resume too early.
A six-mile control zone has been set up in the Egham area near Milton Park Farm, which is just ten miles from Pirbright laboratory. Our science correspondent Julian Rush reports from Surrey.
In Cumbria's farms
The foot and mouth outbreak and the resulting ban on animal movements couldn't have come at a worse time of year for farmers, who need to send their livestock to market.
The farmers' union said the effects were likely to be more serious than last month's outbreak and warned of the "enormous economic consequences" faced by the industry.
During the major foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, Cumbria was one of the worst affected parts of Britain. Our northern correspondent Nick Martin has been to talking to farmers in Kendal and Carlisle who will be affected by the movement restrictions.
