London - A third case of foot-and-mouth-disease was confirmed in Britain Tuesday, dashing hopes that the latest outbreak of the animal disease had been contained. The latest case of the highly-infectious disease was traced to a small-scale breeder near Egham, in the southern county of Surrey, which lies inside a 10-kilometre surveillance zone imposed last week.
Tests on cattle and sheep had proved positive for the disease and the animals were being slaughtered as a precaution, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said Tuesday.
Last week, cattle on two farms in Egham were found to be infected with the disease, only days after the government had given the all clear on a major outbreak in the area in August.
Since last Wednesday, when the new outbreak of the disease was confirmed, hundreds of animals have been culled.
The government has been criticized for lifting restrictions on the August outbreak too soon, as it was confirmed that the same strain of the virus was responsible for both outbreaks.
A probe by the health and safety watchdog found that the virus may originally have escaped from a leaky pipe in a government-run animal health laboratory.
Last Sunday, Defra lifted transport restrictions for livestock transports for slaughter outside the immediately affected zone.
