LONDON: Britain moved swiftly on Saturday to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease after the first case since 2001 appeared on a farm in southern England, prompting fears of mass slaughter and devastation to farming and tourism.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown cut short his family holiday to return to London to chair a meeting of the government's emergency contingencies committee and said afterwards authorities were working round the clock to curb the disease.

“We will be doing, night and day, everything in our power to make sure that what happens happens quickly and happens decisively in a way that can reassure people that everything is being done,” he said.

Meanwhile, Britain's chief vet Debby Reynolds said experts were checking reports of other possible outbreaks as a probe opened into whether illegal livestock movement or non-disclosure of disease caused the outbreak.

Deliberate release of the disease was also being considered, she added.

“We've had a small number (of reports) so far,” she told a central London news conference, without elaborating. “Some have been reported and found to be negative. Others are still under investigation.” She added: “It's far too early to say what the possible extent of the spread of this virus may be.” In line with European legislation, a national ban on moving sheep and cattle was immediately imposed in an attempt to contain the virus, which passes easily between cows, pigs and sheep but is rarely contracted by humans.

Biosecurity measures were tightened and a three-kilometre protection zone and a 10-kilometre surveillance zone were thrown up around the farm, which is in the county of Surrey between Guildford and Aldershot, southwest of London.

The agriculture ministry said it had voluntarily suspended the export of meat products, animal carcasses and milk after the disease was confirmed late on Friday. The EU said it will endorse the measures on Monday.

A number of European countries responded by announcing precautionary checks on cattle, pigs and sheep as well as British livestock imports while Japan imposed a temporary import ban on pork from pigs reared in Britain.

The United States, which still has a ban on British cattle and sheep because of mad cow disease, on Saturday extended the restriction to pigs and pork products.

About 60 cattle on the affected farm were herded together for slaughter on site before being taken for incineration.

The emergency recalled the last foot and mouth epidemic in 2001, which dealt a hammer blow to rural Britain and its beleaguered agriculture industry, with between 6.5 million and 10 million animals burnt on huge pyres.

The British tourism industry was also gutted, the army called in and a general election postponed while the government and authorities were criticised for their slow response.

London was quick off the mark this time around, winning praise from farmers' unions and animal health specialists.

Brown — who has already had to deal with attempted car bombings and severe floods since taking office on June 27 — said he was keen to avoid mass slaughter, as animal charities said such a move would cause renewed revulsion.

In a reversal of previous policy, farmers and the government said they were prepared to accept the innoculation of infected animals, as scientists worked to determine the disease's exact strain and if vaccine stocks were available.

The 2001 outbreak cost Britain's economy an estimated eight billion pounds ($16.3 billion).

Then, some 2,000 cases of the disease were detected on farms throughout the country. Public rights of way across land were closed, hitting the tourism and agriculture sectors.

Authorities around the world also laid out mats soaked in disinfectant at airports and ports to stop the spread of foot and mouth on footwear and car tyres, while some went even further to protect zoos and domestic livestock.

Tim Bonner, a spokesman for Britain's Countryside Alliance, said the disease could already be widespread and they “hope and pray” there will be no repeat of six years ago, coming as it does at the height of the holiday season.

“If the countryside is closed down like in 2001, this could be a disaster for thousands of rural businesses,” he told Sky News on Friday night.

Foot and mouth disease owes its name to the fact that the lesions it causes are found on the inside of the mouth and on the hoofs of animals.

It is often spread on clothing, particularly shoes, but also by vehicles and agricultural tools, and there are rare examples of it having been wind-borne.

—AFP