Two more cases of suspected foot-and-mouth disease in humans are being investigated by the British Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS).
Tests are being carried out to confirm whether the people do have the disease, a PHLS spokesman said.
The latest suspected cases come a day after it emerged tests were being carried out on a slaughterman from north Cumbria suspected of contracting the disease.
A PHLS spokesman would not say where the latest suspect cases were or who could be affected, but said they were not in north Cumbria.
He added: "Two more cases have been referred to us and we are investigating them. There are a lot of symptoms that can seem similar to foot-and-mouth and the case yesterday has obviously raised concerns."
The disease is extremely mild in humans, with people suffering flu-like symptoms and blisters on hands and in the mouth.
There are no recorded cases of human-to-human transmission of the disease and there has only been one previous case of human foot-and-mouth in the UK.
Earlier British Agriculture Minister Mr Nick Brown expressed concern today for the safety of workers involved in the mass cull of livestock to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
Speaking to reporters at an EU farm ministers' meeting, Mr Brown said he was still awaiting details on the case of a slaughterman thought to have contracted foot-and-mouth disease in Cumbria, northern England.
If confirmed, the unidentified man would be the first person in Britain to come down with foot-and-mouth disease since 1966. He is currently undergoing tests to establish if he has the disease.
PA