The disease is extremely rare in humans and not fatal. The man, who was involved in culling animals and disposing of carcasses in north Cumbria, the county most affected by FMD, is the seventh person to be tested by the Public Health Laboratory Service.
Carcasses burn in a funeral pyre near Hadrians Wall, Northumberland.
Also called hoof and mouth disease, foot and mouth is caused by a virus affecting cloven hoofed animals, such as cows, pigs, sheep, goats and deer. The disease is characterized by blisters in the mouth and on the feet. The blisters grow larger and then break, exposing raw, eroded surfaces. Eating becomes difficult and painful, and because the soft tissues under the hoof are inflamed, the animal invariably becomes lame and may shed its hooves. Test results are expected back today or tomorrow.