Britain's farmers are today waiting to see if two livestock viruses have spread.
Tests for bluetongue are being conducted on farm animals and midges in Suffolk after a cow was diagnosed as the first ever British case of the disease on Saturday.
On the Hampshire/Sussex border government vets are assessing a suspect case of foot-and-mouth in a farm animal discovered last night.
If confirmed, it will be the first case outside Surrey and the seventh in Britain since the outbreaks began at the beginning of last month. A three-kilometre control zone is in place as a precautionary measure.
The highland cow suffering from bluetongue in Suffolk was put down to limit the potential spread of the midge-borne disease.
Tests will show if removing her as a source of infection came too late and bluetongue has already spread among livestock and insects.
If the disease - common in northern Europe - proves to be circulating in Suffolk, farmers could face foot-and-mouth-style movement restrictions.
Bluetongue, which affects cattle, goats, sheep and deer, is not spread between animals unlike foot and mouth - only through midge bites- and humans cannot catch it.
Once an outbreak of bluetongue is confirmed, culling animals is not official policy - whereas the opposite is true for foot-and-mouth.
PA