British Army recalled over fresh disease outbreak

The British Army has been recalled to help deal with a resurgence of foot-and-mouth disease in Devon and Somerset.

More than 9,500 sheep and cattle are involved in confirmed outbreaks and culls, said the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

DEFRA's director of operations in Devon, Peter Greig-Smith, told a news conference in Exeter that military personnel had been recalled to help arrange disposal of the animals.

They had said goodbye to the Queen's Dragoon Guards soldiers yesterday lunchtime, but 60 had been recalled to Okehampton Camp on Dartmoor, he said.

Devon was the first area of the country to have military assistance with the disease, and at one time 350 soldiers were involved.

As DEFRA continues to try and pinpoint the source of the outbreak, tourism and farming industry leaders spoke of their worries over the escalation of the disease.

The new outbreak began on Monday at Crosses Farm, at Clayhanger, near Devon's border with Somerset - a previously uninfected area.

There were eight nearby premises associated with that case, two of which became infected premises, DEFRA has confirmed.

They were at two other premises in the Clayhanger area, Helewood Farm and Nutcombe Farm, which in turn involved eight other nearby premises. A new case of the disease has also been confirmed at Westcott Farm, Ashbrittle, Somerset, less than a mile from the nearest Devon case.

The new pocket of the disease means there are now 171 cases in Devon and six in Somerset.