What happens if the disease has spread to pigs?

800 pigs were slaughtered at Stroude Farm next to the field of the first outbreak. They have been tested but results are not known. If the pigs were infected then there will be alarm in all surrounding farms. Animals on adjacent farms will be culled and vaccination could be used to halt disease spread.

Why is it so serious if pigs are infected?

Pigs excrete large amounts of virus which can then be carried through the air. When they breathe out they emit tiny spores of the virus that can travel large distances by air and on the wind. This could quickly spread the disease to other farms.

Expert View

If the outbreak spreads, it will be one of the worst times in the farming year for animals to be locked down

Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor of The Times

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Why has foot-and-mouth returned?

Ministers and officials are perplexed how the disease returned so quickly after tests on animals around the infected Surrey farms tested negative. The proximity to Heathrow has fuelled the theory that a malicious person may be at work. However, anyone with knowledge of the disease would aim to infect pigs or sheep. The virus might cause the most havoc in sheep because it is difficult to detect and could spread unknowingly through flocks to create an epidemic.

Are the government labs at Pirbright under suspicion again?

Yes, because tests have shown that the virus is the same strain as in last month’s outbreak. Veterinary epidemiologists are trying to establish if there is any link with the latest outbreak near Egham and Pirbright. Movements of people and vehicles are being tracked.

Could the disease be spread by other wildlife?

Yes, but only wild deer which are cloven-footed can be infected with, carry and spread the virus. But deer become sick easily with the disease. So far there is no evidence of this.

Is there any other link with farm animals?

Sheep are under scrutiny because they may be carrying the disease without showing any obvious symptoms. Yet that does not tally with the negative blood tests taken in the first surveillance zone.

Is it possible the disease was spread by virus lurking in grass, straw, soil, water or mud?

Survival on the ground varies from three days in summer to 28 days in winter. In humid conditions the virus can last as long as 50 days.

Could virus have been spread by people, vehicles or equipment?

This seems the most plausible. The tyres of contractors’ lorries at Pirbright, Surrey, are thought to have been contaminated with virus from effluent from a leaky pipe. Mud was then shed on lanes near farms in the August outbreak that was picked up by tractors. These lorries could easily have driven near the site of the new outbreak.Farm contractors in Surrey are also a possibility.

Did the Government lift livestock movement restrictions too quickly?

Under EU regulations they can be lifted if 30 days have passed after the cleaning and disinfecting of the last infected farm without a new disease outbreak. As the virus can survive in certain conditions for 50 days the EU could review the 30-day rule.

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