Leicestershire virus fears ease
13 September 2001
Leicestershire virus fears ease
By FWi staff
FEARS that foot-and-mouth disease has returned to Leicestershire are receding, even though farmers are still awaiting final blood results from two farms under suspicion.
An NFU East Midlands spokeswoman said she was “reasonably confident” of negative results but said nothing would be taken for granted until this was confirmed.
The final results could be known on Thursday (13 September).
Fifty-three cattle were slaughtered on farms at Copt Oak, near Loughborough, and Sketchley, near Hinckley, after lesions were detected at the weekend (8 and 9 September).
These and other farms within 8km of the suspect cases were placed under restriction.
But preliminary blood tests came back negative and suspicions that lesions on the cattle may have been caused by brambles in the field have been reported.
The last of six cases in Leicestershire was confirmed on 23 April and it was declared a disease-free country three months ago.
There was one new case, in Cumbria, confirmed on Wednesday (12 September) taking the total number of cases to 2015.