Foot and mouth outbreak: is it sabotage?

A scientist investigating the foot and mouth outbreak today said police should be called in amid growing fears of sabotage. These new claims come as a fourth suspected case of foot and mouth disease is being investigated - 16 miles from the original outbreak.

Andrew King, a former department head of the Institute of Animal Health in Pirbright, Surrey, said biosecurity was so tight that the outbreak had to have been caused deliberately.

"As far as I am concerned the authorities have failed to find any chink in the armoury of the establishment's biosecurity," he said.

"What you are left with is human movement, which is not a matter for the institute, it's a police matter. It's very, very unlikely that it could be spread by accident."

He added: "It has to be regarded as a bit fishy."

Government officials have established a 3km (1.8 mile) exclusion zone around a farm thought to be near Wotton, close to Dorking in Surrey - 16 miles from the original outbreak.

However, the farmer at the centre of the new scare said today he is sure his livestock do not have the disease.

Farmer Lawrence Matthews said he was "absolutely sure" the disease was not on his farm. He said animals showed signs of ulcers but there were no lesions.

The chief vet, Debby Reynolds, announced it had been set up because animals on the farm were showing signs of illness.

'We are putting a temporary control zone around a farm where there are some mild clinical signs that are causing a little concern,' she said.

'This is in an area which is outside the existing surveillance and protection zones.'

Dr Reynolds, who made the announcement shortly before midnight, refused to name the location of the new control zone.

However, a map on the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website indicated the new concern related to a farm near Wotton.

This is about 16 miles to the south east of the original outbreak, fuelling fears the disease had spread many miles further than first believed.

Dr Reynolds said the control zone was set up as a precaution because there was a 'clinical suspicion' that animals on the farm had become infected.

The latest case raises questions about the size of the six-mile surveillance zone around the existing outbreaks.

In another development, Legionnaires' disease has been found at the research unit at the centre of the foot and mouth outbreak.

Tests were carried out at the Institute of Animal Health in Pirbright, Surrey, after a worker there contracted the disease.

Officials have taken samples from air conditioning units, which are often associated with Legionnaires'.

The discovery of the potentiallydeadly bacteria will reinforce doubts about the safety of the site's rundown facilities.

The state-funded institute and a neighbouring facility run by U.S. drugs firm Merial are considered the most likely source of the foot and mouth outbreak. Nearly 600 cattle have been slaughtered and incinerated on three farms in the surrounding area, throwing the UK livestock and meat industry into crisis.

The Legionnaires' case is being investigated by the Health Protection Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.

An agency spokesman said: ' Everywhere the patient has been in the ten to 14 days before falling ill, including their home, place of work and anywhere they may have travelled to or visited, is assessed to establish whether there is any potential source of infection.'

Initial results suggest the air conditioning units at the institute have been correctly maintained. Further tests are planned.

The patient, who has not been named, was working in the centre's ISO10 building, which is used for research into vaccines and exotic viral diseases.

The agency recently revealed that a 49-year- old from Hampshire, who was working in Surrey, was being treated for Legionnaires'. It is not clear whether this is the worker involved.

Nor is it certain whether the bug found at Pirbright was responsible for the infection of the contract worker who was employed there in June.

The HSE warned last December that another of the institute's sites, at Compton in Berkshire, posed a Legionnaires' risk.

But there was some good news for farmers yesterday. A five-day ban on all animal movements was lifted.

Livestock can again be taken for slaughter, heading off the risk of meat shortages.

Farmers and meat exporters are, however, planning to claim compensation for their losses as a result of the outbreaks.

The National Farmers' Union has retained a law firm to examine their prospects of success in court.

A second group, which includes exporters, has taken similar action.

David Kirwan, the group's solicitor, said: 'While a small number of farmers may be directly affected by the spread of the disease, the entire farming and exporting community is being brought to its knees for the second time in six years.'

The legal bid will depend on whether an official inquiry is able to pinpoint the source of the outbreak.

So far two cases have been confirmed - the first on a farm at Normandy, near Guildford, and the second at nearby Willey Green.

Tests are also being carried out on a third suspected case nearby.

The European Union is maintaining an export ban on all meat and milk products from Britain until at least August 25.

Can Mabel cheat death again?

As an orphaned and unwanted calf, Mabel faced slaughter shortly after she was born 12 years ago.

Her life was saved when abattoir workers took pity and donated her to a children's nursery. Ever since, she has brought joy to hundreds of youngsters.

Now, however, the Jersey cow faces a deadly new threat in the shape of foot and mouth.

Her home, near Woking, is less than a mile from the second site of the outbreak in Surrey and within the disease protection zone. Were she to catch the virus, this time she would not be able to escape slaughter.

She is being kept away from the nursery's 50 children to reduce the risk of her becoming infected.

A vet is checking on her and the centre's donkeys and goats every day.

Peter Churchley, owner of the Noah's Ark nursery, said: "It would be an absolute tragedy if Mabel escaped the slaughterhouse once and then got caught up in foot and mouth."

The National Farmers' Union has retained a law firm to examine their prospects of success in court.

A second group, which includes exporters, has taken similar action.

David Kirwan, the group's solicitor, said: "While a small number of farmers may be directly affected by the spread of the disease, the entire farming and exporting community is being brought to its knees for the second time in six years.

"These people already work to incredibly narrow profit margins and further red tape and restrictions imposed from within the UK and from Europe are going to have a catastrophic impact on their businesses.

"Clearly, it is still very early days in terms of the inquiry into what went wrong and where the blame lies, but already it is apparent that the farming and exporting community is going to suffer a great deal of pain."

The legal bid will depend on whether an official inquiry is able to pinpoint the source of the outbreak.

The Government could find itself defending the claim, even if the finger of blame is eventually pointed at Merial and not the institute. This is because state agencies are responsible