Abattoirs up and running

More than 100 abattoirs have so far been approved by the Meat Hygiene Service and received their licence to slaughter.

Farmers are being urged to only take livestock to approved facilities, and they must also have an agreed contract with an abattoir before animals are taken from their farm.

For the latests lists on approved premises, visit http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/abattoirs/approved.htm

Stuart Roberts, director of the BMPA, said: "A large number of abattoirs are slaughtering today and so far, the introduction of movement to slaughter has been relatively straightforward."

Meanwhile, it has been reported a worker at the Institute for Animal Health, one of the facilities at the heart of the FMD outbreak, has contracted Legionnaires' disease.

The Health Protection Agency confirmed it has taken water samples from the Pirbright site, and has been investigating the incident for the past two weeks.

It is not known if the employee contracted the disease at the laboratory.

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