Solihull farm control zone lifted

The temporary control zone imposed around a farm near Solihull, West Midlands has been lifted after tests on animals for foot-and-mouth disease proved negative, Defra said.

Temporary FMD control zone was set up at Solihull premises Temporary FMD control zone was set up at Solihull premises

A 3km (1.8-mile) zone was set up around Woodhouse Farm on Wednesday while officials investigated a suspected case of the disease, but results came back all-clear.

There have so far been five confirmed cases of foot and mouth in Surrey since the initial outbreak at the start of August.

A number of sites outside Surrey have also been investigated and several control zones set up, but these have all proved to be false alarms.

The control zone around Woodhouse Farm, which is just south of Birmingham International Airport, was set up as a precautionary measure hours after chief vet Debby Reynolds urged farmers to undertake twice-daily inspections of their cattle in a bid to eradicate foot and mouth.

But a Defra spokeswoman said results had shown no evidence of the disease.

The news came as laboratory results on the latest incidence of foot and mouth in Surrey revealed the strain of the disease was the same as all the other cases in the outbreak.

Animals on the fifth premises - Klondyke Farm - had the same strain as the previous four infected farms.

The Environment Department also said it was lifting some of the movement restrictions outside the surveillance zone which surrounds the most recent cases near Egham, Surrey.

Licences are now available to allow pigs to be moved for welfare reasons, and the movement of animals up to 3km (1.8 miles) or cows for calving up to 50km (31 miles) between premises belonging to the same owner.

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