Further cases of foot and mouth disease have been confirmed in Britain, bringing the total number in the United Kingdom to over 69. Three new cases were confirmed this morning in Devon and two near the farm believed to be the source of the outbreak on the Tyne and Wear-Northumberland border. The Ministry of Agriculture said that there was one case in Northern Ireland.
The Prince of Wales has also been hit by the disease, with a confirmed outbreak on a Dartmoor farm run by a tenant called Roger Winsor. The outbreak at Dunna Bridge farm, near Two Bridges in the heart of Dartmoor, was confirmed by MAFF this morning.
About 45,000 animals have now been slaughtered in the UK as a result of the disease. Eleven fresh cases were yesterday confirmed in Cumbria, Lancashire, Oxfordshire, Durham, Herefordshire, Tyne and Wear, Cornwall and at a farm in Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Britain said.
British meat supplies are running dangerously low as many supermarkets predicted only enough stocks to last into early next week. The major supermarket chains reported record sales but said that although shoppers were stockpiling meat there had not been the level of panic buying seen during last Autumn's fuel crisis when shelves nationwide were left bare.
In Europe, tests are being carried out on two separate groups of animals this morning to confirm if they have foot and mouth disease. A group of 75 pigs on a farm in Belgium were slaughtered after exhibiting symptoms of the disease. The pigs had been exported from Britain last month. The farm has been cordoned off and the Belgian authorities have banned the transportation of all farm animals and farm vehicles in a wide area around the farm.
The consumption of dairy produce has also been restricted in the area. The Belgian Agriculture Minister, Jacques Gabrios, said that he did not blame Britain for Belgium's problems. In France, up to 80 sheep were slaughtered on a farm in the southeast of the country after they showed signs of the disease. Initial results of tests in both countries were negative.
