'We were struggling to get on with the harvest. I felt sick when I heard'

The lurid yellow tape wound around the field gate, proclaimed "No Entry, Animal Disease Control Precautions", while a man in a white forensic suit stood nearby, armed with disinfectant.

Nearby, a field of sheep grazed, oblivious to the furore surrounding them, but to farmers in Surrey, this now all too familiar sight struck a frightening chord. One farmer, Mike Giffin, admitted that he felt physically ill when he heard that the latest foot-and-mouth case was within his own county.

Surrey was let off lightly in the 2001 outbreak, with no confirmed cases, but now the county's small livestock community has found itself at the eye of a new storm.

"I felt really sick, absolutely gutted. We are struggling to get on with the harvest. We have endured a wet early summer and now there is sun we were getting on with things. It is just another blow," he said.

Yesterday, farmers across the county were watching the news intensely, desperately hoping that no other case would emerge, that the problem had been swiftly contained.

"The farmers are quite concerned. If we can get through today without another confirmed case, we will feel a lot better," said Mr Giffin, who has 200 beef cattle and cows in Reigate, and is chairman of the National Farmers' Union in Surrey.

While the industry was still struggling to cope with low lamb, beef and milk prices and the increased price of grain, it had been starting to get back on its feet after several torrid years. Yesterday farmers were just hoping that this was not going to be another serious blow.

Unlike the previous outbreak, the livestock were all out in the fields yesterday, creating particular problems with biosecurity, Mr Giffin said.

Local farmers, however, praised the swift action taken by the Government, in contrast to 2001, when it took days to impose movement restrictions.

But as another farmer, Hugh Broom, pointed out, for those who needed to take their cattle to market or the abattoir over the next few days, the current situation was going to become a serious problem soon.

"I was completely blown away. To suddenly be told about it on Friday night was a big shock but we are very supportive of the movement restrictions.

"We are urging our (National Farmers' Union) members to remain vigilant and not to let their guard down. It is potentially still out there," said Mr Broom, who has sheep and cattle on a farm near Dorking. He added: "There is a lot of apprehension and uncertainty. No one knows what is going to happen next, what is the next step."

Down the road from the field in Normandy, near Guildford, where the infected cattle were slaughtered, police were guarding the Institute for Animal Health, the government-funded research laboratory at Pirbright, along with the adjoining Merial Animal Health pharmaceutical company, which was feared to be the source of the problem. Health and safety executive officers were conducting their investigation behind the high fence.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) revealed the strain of the virus on the infected farm was the same as one used at the facility, and not one recently seen in animals.

Derrick Pride, whose cattle were grazing on the rented field in Normandy when they were found to be infected and were culled, said: "It is nothing to do with us. It is not our fault. It is something beyond our control."

A nationwide ban on the movement of cows, sheep and pigs and the export of cloven-hoofed animals and animal products was enforced within hours of the disease being diagnosed. Protection and surveillance zones, which were set up around the infected farm, were extended to include Pirbright.

The chief veterinary officer, Debby Reynolds, said that a cull had taken place on an adjacent premises to the original farm which had been identified as having "dangerous contact" with the infected herd.

But a number of other potential cases had proved negative.

There was one silver lining to this particular cloud, however. Locals living in this Surrey commuter belt area pointed out that this was not a high intensity farming area. While there were several smaller holdings nearby, there were few very large sites.

The impact, however, was being felt across the country, with cattle movement restrictions applying nationwide and rural communities taking immediate action to disinfect footwear and vehicles.

Many communities which were devastated by the 2001 epidemic, which led to the slaughter of up to 10 million animals and cost the country up to an estimated £8.5bn, were steeling themselves to hear the worst news.

Richard Haddock, the south-west regional chairman of the National Farmers' Union, said: "There are very serious concerns among farmers about this outbreak and the first priority for all of us is to bring it under control.

"At the moment the restrictions are a sacrifice we are willing to make to save our industry."

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