The army drafted in extra troops at the end of last week to step-up the cull rate. The main target area is just south of Newton Stewart where a case was confirmed at the weekend. The carcasses will buried or burned - but both methods are becoming increasingly controversial. However, Scottish Executive officials have said they are responding to environmental concerns from people living near the burial pit at Birkshaw Forest, south of Lockerbie. Environmental consultants have been called in to advise on smell, noise and potential water pollution problems.
Local people say the stench is intolerable and some have threatened legal action.
Environmentalists have also expressed concern about the pollution threat from smoke from massive pyres, two of which have been burning in Dumfriesshire. Speakers will call for the introduction of vaccination. Borders farmer Colin Strang Steel of Threepwood, near Lauder, whose flock was destroyed in a pre-emptive cull last month, because of contact with a single ram bought at Longtown mart will be among the speakers. Mr Strang Steel originally threatened to take legal action to save his flock but eventually agreed to the cull. And, in another development, livestock hauliers affected by the crisis are to seek compensation from the executive.