The severe and highly contagious livestock virus had a devastating impact on East Anglia's farms and rural communities in 2001, when six million animals were slaughtered across the country in an epidemic which cost an estimated £12.8bn to the economy.

The UK has been free of the disease since the end of a subsequent outbreak in 2007, but the risk level has been raised after a new FMD case was confirmed in a herd of water buffalo near Berlin on January 10.

Farming minister Daniel Zeichner told the House of Commons that Defra has taken "rapid action to protect the UK", including suspending imports of cattle, sheep and pigs from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU.

“I can assure the House, the government will do whatever it takes to protect our nation’s farmers from the risk posed by........

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