FARMERS are being reassured by NFU officials after an outbreak of anthrax was confirmed at a farm in Westbury.

A cow died on Friday at Storridge Farm. Its carcase was incinerated after it was confirmed to have the deadly bacterial disease – the first case in Britain since 2006.

A second cow also died at the farm on Tuesday and tests are continuing with movement restrictions in place at the farm near the West Wilts Trading Estate.

The risk to humans is “very low” according to Public Health England and a public footpath from Cutteridge on the edge of Dilton Marsh to Brook Farm remains closed as a precaution, with no cattle from the field entering the food chain.

Andi Witcombe, the NFU's Wiltshire County Advisor, said: “Cases of anthrax are very rare and when they do occur they are very isolated incidents.

“It doesn’t spread between animals like some other diseases might, it has to be physically ingested.

“It wouldn’t necessarily go through the herd and I’d say there is no need for farmers to be overly concerned.

“They should make sure they have a good surveillance programme in place, which most do, and make sure they have good bio security, which again most do.

“It shouldn’t really affect the sale of cattle for farmers as this one farm won’t be allowed to trade at market until the Animal and Plant Health Agency is confident there is no safety risk.”

The bacterial disease, which primarily affects herbivorous animals, is spread by spores which can be found in wool, hair, hides, skins, bones, bonemeal and in the carcasses of infected animals. The spores can also contaminate soil and can survive for many years.

All sudden, unexplained deaths of cattle are investigated for anthrax, and hundreds of samples are examined each year.

The Gazette's farming diarist Denise Plummer, a farmer at Manor Farm near Chippenham, said: “The trouble with the disease is it lasts in the soil for up to 100 years, that’s why we always test for it.

“It’s not something that happens a lot but it is a concern and why we always test for it because we are aware it is about.

“We have never had any cases on the farm and it’s not a common thing these days.”

Wiltshire Council director of Public Health Maggie Rae said: “We have a historic link because we do have evidence that the last incident was 20 years ago when again a cow died and when it was tested it had anthrax.

“Obviously the most import thing we needed to do, which we did over the weekend, was have the cow incinerated and make sure it was disposed of safely.

“Anyone who was in contact with the cow, which was a limited number of people, we’ve just being observing them.

“There is quite a short period between exposure and illness, probably about 72 hours, and all those human contacts have shown no sign of the disease.”

Mike Wade, deputy director of Health Protection for Public Health England South West, said: “We are aware of a confirmed case of anthrax disease in a cow in the Westbury area.

“The risk of infection in close human contacts of the animal is very low, and we are in touch with any potential contacts to offer public health advice.”