Almost two months after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease ravaged the farming industry in Britain, a new case was confirmed Wednesday in the same county in South East England.

Nearly 600 animals were culled six weeks ago after the first case was reported in Surrey. Now, another threat is looming for the farms in the same region, authorities confirming the existence of the highly contagious disease at a farm near Egham.

All livestock movement was banned arround the country in order to prevent a potential spreading of the virus. A surveillance area of ten kilometres was set up around the Milton Park Farm, Surrey county.

“This is news that no one wanted to hear, least of all the farming industry,” the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn said.

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown headed a meeting of the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (Cobra) in order to determine further measures that need to be taken after test results confirmed a new outbreak.

Last month, Brown was forced to return from his vacation and deal with the crisis situation threatening to cause massive damage to the farming and tourism sector, like it did six years ago. The outbreak was eventually contained and no other cases were signaled from outside the region of Surrey until this week.

The farm where authorities said foot-and-mouth disease exists is located 15 kilometres from the Pilbright research centre, who is believed to be the origin of August’s outbreak. Investigations revealed biosecurity breaches and a malfunction of the drainage system, which have played a decisive role in the virus’ spreading.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said animals will be culled at the farm as a first measure.

Specialists are trying to determine whether the first outbreak was the origin of this fresh case, just a few days after authorities said the disease was routed out from Surrey.

The National Farmers' Union expressed deep concern over this new outbreak, saying it could turn up to be a “disaster” for the farming sector, which is most likely to be “absolutely devastated.”

Thus, the European Commission decided to suspend all exports of fresh meat, dairy products and live animals to the rest of Europe at least until November 1.