British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday called a meeting of the government's civil contingencies cell COBRA to discuss the latest confirmed cases of foot and mouth disease. The meeting with the country's chief vet Debbie Reynolds, public health officials and other experts came after tests confirmed the sixth case of the highly contagious disease in two months.
A spokesman for Brown's office said the meeting was to "stock-take on recent developments in the past few days". As the committee met, about 40 cattle were culled on the affected farm in the county of Surrey, south-east England, after the environment ministry confirmed the presence of the disease late Friday.
The cattle had shown symptoms of the virus, which spreads easily among cloven-footed animals like cows, pigs and sheep, after three recent outbreaks just a few miles (kilometres) away.
The farm is within the three-kilometre (1.8-mile) protection zone set up after the latest cases emerged. In all, there have been six cases of foot and mouth disease in Surrey since the first was identified on August 3 and a second days later.