Four new cases of foot-and-mouth disease have been confirmed taking the total in Britain to 1,611.
The new cases in the period from 7 p.m. yesterday to 7 p.m. tonight were in Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Devon and Lancashire, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said.
There were four new cases yesrerday, dashing hopes in some quarters that the end of the epidemic was in sight.
No new cases were reported on Thursday, for the first time since the outbreak of the disease in February.
A Maff spokesman said: "The number of cases in one day does not really indicate anything other than as part of a long term trend. We are happy that the long term trend is still down."
Maff has been warning that the disease has not yet been completely defeated.
A spokesman pointed out that as few as three cases a day were recorded in February 1968 towards the end of the last major outbreak of foot-and-mouth, yet the virus continued for another four months before the last case was recorded.
He said: "A day without cases was encouraging but we knew it did not signal the end of the outbreak.
"In 1967 and 1968 there were a few months with days when there were no new cases but the disease was by no means over. We need to remain cautious and vigilant while continuing every effort to eradicate the disease.
PA