UK officials rule out suspected case of foot and mouth disease

British officials on Friday ruled out a suspected case of foot and mouth disease in the rural eastern English county of Norfolk.

Movement restrictions and a temporary 10-km control zone for animals were enforced around a farm, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

“Following swift action in response to this possible case I can confirm that testing has enabled me to fully rule out presence of (foot and mouth) disease,” Christine Middlemiss, Britain’s chief veterinary officer, said on Twitter.

Foot and mouth disease is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock that affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, FMD is not readily transmissible to humans and is not a public health risk.

The last British outbreak was in 2007, but a particularly severe outbreak occurred in 2001, which culminated in the slaughter of more than 6 million animals.

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