Herd slaughtered after outbreak

Defra has imposed restrictions on neighbouring farms

The herd of cattle at the centre of a brucellosis outbreak in Cornwall has been culled.

All 124 cattle, from Landare Farm near Liskeard, have been slaughtered as a precautionary measure.

A bull is suspected of being at the centre of the outbreak, the first in England for a decade.

The disease, which can spread to humans, was confirmed on Thursday after a number of cows on the farm were said to have miscarried.

BRUCELLOSIS Causes abortion in pregnant cows Vets, farmers, meat inspectors, abattoir workers most at risk Causes mild flu-like illness, while others experience recurrent or chronic fever, which can be very serious and last several years Last case in England was 1993

The bull was born and bred in the county but may have come into contact with an infected animal, say experts.

Movement restrictions are also in place on seven neighbouring farms.

Vets from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have started investigations into how the infection got to Cornwall and whether it has spread elsewhere.

They are focusing on imports of animals to Cornwall from Northern Ireland where brucellosis is a serious problem, with more than 200 farms infected.

Defra vet Jan Kelly told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today that the bull, which was humanely killed along with four cows on Thursday, had shown symptoms of the disease.

'Probably contained'

She said: "The bull is one of the reactors and that is why we have to consider him as a suspect.

"Normally bulls are considered to be quite a low risk in the transmission of the disease. But we have to explore all avenues."

She said that the disease had probably been contained within Cornwall.

The disease causes cattle to miscarry and in humans the disease causes a mild flu-like illness, while others experience recurrent or chronic fever, which can be very serious and last several years.

Untreated milk

The main risk is to farmers and vets because brucellosis can be passed to humans if they have contact with infected animals.

It can also be passed by contaminated animal products such as untreated milk.

However, no milk from the infected farm has gone into the human food chain because the cows are used to suckle beef calves and not provide milk for dairy products.

There were two cases of the disease last year in Scotland which were linked with imported cattle from the Republic of Ireland.