Chessington Zoo foot-and-mouth fear

A major British tourist attraction has called in government health inspectors to check for foot-and-mouth disease.

Chessington World of Adventures and Zoo contacted the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) after a vet was called to examine one of the zoo's sheep.

A Chessington spokeswoman said: "As a precautionary measure and because of the high state of alert currently in place due to the recent cases of foot-and-mouth disease, it was decided to immediately check all our cloven hoof stock for any signs of disease and do necessary tests; and as part of our standard precautionary procedures Defra was also alerted.

She added that although the zoo was not within either the original 3km protection zone or 10km surveillance zone, the organisation had taken "all relevant steps" to protect the animals. Those precautions included shutting the children's zoo and creature features areas of the park.

She said Defra was called in "purely as a precautionary measure to ensure the well-being of the animals and protect the local community".

"There is no reason to suspect that anything but a full clearance will be received from Defra," she said. "We will obviously continue to take the advice given by both Defra and our own dedicated vet."

Officials had announced earlier that they were investigating two new suspected cases of foot-and-mouth disease - one in Surrey and one in Kent.

A 3km temporary control zone was set up around a farm in the Romney Marsh area of Kent, after a farmer raised concerns that his cattle were displaying symptoms.

Stephen Furnival, whose arable farm is at centre of the scare in Kent, said he "fully supports" the setting up of the control zone.

But the decision to impose the zones will come as a blow to farmers who had been hoping that the foot-and-mouth outbreak had been contained.

Speaking outside Honeychild Manor Farm, Mr Furnival said: "I understand that the setting up of a temporary control zone is a normal response and therefore I fully support this, pending the results of the tests."

It was the first temporary exclusion zone to be established outside Surrey where there have been two confirmed cases.

Mr Furnival called in vets after noticing some of his calves had unusual lesions on the muzzles of their mouths.

"Knowing the current situation I thought it was prudent to notify the authorities immediately," he said.

The Government's chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said results from the farm in Kent are expected later today or early tomorrow.

She said: "You may remember that there was, just a few days ago, a foot-and-mouth alert in Dorking.

"That was negated, it was ruled out and so we have got the same situation in Kent and by probably the end of today, early tomorrow, we will know those laboratory test results."

Farmers were beginning to breathe easier as it appeared the outbreak which began in Surrey earlier this month had been contained.

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