'No end in sight' for foot-and-mouth crisis

Britain's farmers have been warned that the foot-and-mouth crisis is far from over and is going to last a long time.

The country's chief vet Jim Scudamore delivered the frank warning as the tally of outbreaks topped 100.

Fifteen outbreaks confirmed yesterday, including in four previously unaffected counties, and eight more cases today, have effectively put an end to faint hopes that the spread of the disease was about to peak.

Mr Scudamore said: "We have such a large number of tracings and movements (of animals) to follow still.

"We will not see the disease disappearing at the end of this week and this outbreak is going to last for a long time."

Mr Scudamore said the biggest problem is that the disease seems to be spreading most rapidly among cattle which have come into contact with sheep carrying the virus.

Since the outbreak began more than two weeks ago, officials have been trying to trace the movements of 100,000 sheep which passed through markets where the disease was believed to have been present.

With Britain in the lambing season, Mr Scudamore urged sheep farmers to look out for signs of the disease in their livestock.

It could include an abnormally high rate of death in young lambs and abortions in pregnant sheep. Other classical symptoms are lameness and listlessness.

Mr Scudamore appealed for any farmers who bought sheep outside the main sales rings at Longtown Market, a focal point for tracing the disease, to contact their local animal health officer as soon as possible.