§ Mr. A. WILLIAMSasked the Minister of Agriculture how many cases of foot-and-mouth disease have occurred this month and during October, and in how many of these cases has the origin of the outbreak been traced?
Mr. GUINNESSSeven outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease occurred in October last and five have occurred during the present month. The seven outbreaks in October were caused by infection from existing centres of disease in Northamptonshire and Shropshire. Of the five November outbreaks, the two in Middlesex and Buckinghamshire constitute a new centre of disease whose origin has not been ascertained. Three outbreaks in Kent and Sussex were confirmed within four days, and are probably due to some common origin which has not yet been discovered. It is known that they are not directly connected by stock movements. The infection in these three cases probably came from Continental sources, and inquiries are still in progress.