The foot-and-mouth crisis will not peak until early May at the earliest - just when Tony Blair wants to hold the General Election - a leading disease expert has warned.

Britain's Ministry of Agriculture inquired about incinerating animals infected with foot-and-mouth two weeks before the outbreak became public knowledge.

Seven more cases of foot and mouth have been confirmed across six British counties, taking the total number of cases to 103.

Officials are investigating how foot-and-mouth symptoms in pigs at the centre of Britain's latest agricultural crisis may have gone unnoticed for up to two weeks.