Lab Virus

British agricultural officials said Tuesday that 102 animals have been culled on the latest farm to be hit by the foot-and-mouth disease. The outbreak was first detected last week at a farm in Surrey, about 30 miles (48.2 kilometers) southwest of London.

The discovery of the second case of the disease came as an independent report by the British government's Health and Safety Executive said Tuesday there was a "strong probability" that the strain of virus originated from two nearby research laboratories which use the foot-and-mouth virus for research and production of a vaccine.

Lab denies security breaches

The inspectors said there was a "real possibility" that human movement was responsible for releasing the virus, although it did not go into detail.

One of the labs, Merial Animal Health, a private US pharmaceutical company located five kilometers away from the farm where the first outbreak was discovered, has so far denied that there had been any breach in bio-security procedures as investigators continued to scour the site.

The report also said there was a "negligible" likelihood that the virus, a highly contagious pathogen, had been dispersed from the research laboratories into the air. Instead, it said that "waterborne release onto the site (of infection) remains a possibility."

British farmers reeling under export bans

Meanwhile the European Commission said the ban on exports of meat, milk and animals it had imposed on Britain would be eased as soon as possible.

"Our aim is to regionalize the ban as soon as the situation allows," an EU Commission spokesman said in Brussels.

EU veterinary experts would meet Wednesday to ascertain whether the ban could be partially lifted and whether all Britain should still be classed a high-risk area, he said.

Northern Ireland has all along been excepted from the restrictions.

The EU, which is the main market for 90 percent of British meat exports, on Monday declared Britain a "high risk" area for foot and mouth, and imposed an export ban on animals and meat from the country.

Britain's National Farmers Union (NFU) said Tuesday the British livestock industry could lose between 10 to 15 million British pounds ($20.4 to $30.6 million) of income per week due to foot-and-mouth.

Many farms would be threatened with bankruptcy should there be a prolonged outbreak as in the 2001 outbreak, the NFU said.

Distressed farmers are considering whether to sue the government, said NFU representative Richard Haddock.