Scottish authorities are investigating a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth after a steer developed symptoms of the highly contagious animal disease that devastated Britain's livestock industry last year.
The Scottish Executive has imposed a 5-mile stock movement ban on a farm in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, after suspicious lesions were discovered on the animal earlier today.
Precautions are also being taken at farms which have had contact with the suspect animal.
A foot-and-mouth epidemic cost Britain €12.5bn last year, and devastated the country's meat and livestock trade and forced Prime Minister Tony Blair to delay a general election.
While Scottish officials are extremely concerned about the possible outbreak, there have been several false alarms since last year's epidemic during which millions of animals were burned on giant pyres around the country.
