He: 'Fearless' because of new foot and mouth disease

On August 3, he imposed a national ban on transporting cattle after confirming that a high-risk epidemic was found on a farm near London.

Gordon Brown has shortened his country holiday and will be in London today (August 4) to cope with this crisis."Our number one priority is to prevent widespread epidemics to protect farmers' cattle , " Brown's spokesman said.

The emergency ban recalled what happened in 2001 when 6.5 million to 10 million cattle were destroyed, the tourism industry was affected, the army was summoned and the general election was postponed.

(Photo: VNN) The latest outbreak was discovered on a farm near Guildford, southwest London. Foot and mouth disease is easily spread among ruminants but rarely spreads to humans. All cattle on the farm will be killed. A spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the person in charge of animal health in the area confirmed the new outbreak of foot and mouth disease after the tests.

This incident resulted in an emergency meeting of COBRA - the UK's emergency affairs cabinet. Brown Prime Minister, on vacation in Dorset - southwestern England, attend meetings by phone.

A spokesman for the British Prime Minister said Mr Brown would return to London to preside over other COBRA meetings. According to her, necessary measures have been implemented. A 3 km wide protected area and 10 km monitoring area have been set up around infected farms.

Environment Minister Hilary Benn will return to London from Italy, where he is on vacation. The European Commission (EC) also received notice of the disease situation in the UK.

Foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 was a strong blow to the British economy , causing an estimated loss of 16.3 billion USD. At that time, there were 2,000 cases of infection on farms across the UK. To prevent the spread of epidemics, the right to cross lands is stopped, causing great losses to tourism and agriculture.

Hoai Linh