Spare a thought or even a prayer for your fellow alpaca breeders in the UK tonight.

Cattle at a farm in Surrey have been found to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease.
Some 60 animals on the farm near Guildford have tested positive for the disease which wreaked havoc in 2001.
A 3km protection zone has been put in place around the premises and a UK ban imposed on movement of all livestock.

This movement ban has such a huge impact on alpaca breedings and sales, I am sure you can imagine.

Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious viral disease which affects animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and deer.
The disease is extremely infectious - it can spread very quickly among animals.
Symptoms include fever, lesions in the mouth and lameness, but it is not normally fatal in adult animals.
The disease can result in a huge decrease in the amount of milk produced in affected animals.

As well as the 3km protection zone, there is also a 10km surveillance zone where nearby animals are monitored.

National Farmers' Union President Peter Kendall said: "This is a matter of grave concern. We have an industry still depressed from low prices."

Lets hope it is an isolated incident.

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