THE region's farmers were warned last night that the battle against foot-and-mouth is not over yet.

Exactly a month has passed since the last reported case in the North-East.

The lack of new infection has raised hopes that the disease which has brought misery to the countryside could finally have been defeated.

But, last night, officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) joined farming chiefs to warn that it could be many more months before the all-clear is given.

The last reported foot-and-mouth case was near Hexham, Northumberland, on September 29.

Both County Durham and North Yorkshire have remained free of the disease for longer. The last case in Cumbria, over the North Pennines, was on September 30, near Appleby.

Vets from Defra are engaged in a mass blood testing programme of all sheep flocks in a bid to find any latent signs of the disease.

The animals can carry the virus without showing any obvious symptoms.

Officials will not say how much longer the testing will last, and have not ruled out any traces of the disease being found.

John Rider, chairman of the North Riding and Durham National Farmers' Union, said: "We can see the daylight through the trees, and are getting to the edge of the wood.

"But, until all the blood testing of sheep has been completed, we have to think that there is the possibility of another outbreak.

"A reasonable amount of time after that then must elapse before we can consider things to be clear."

Chris Webb, of Defra, said it would not give the all-clear until three months had passed with no new cases.

July's outbreak in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, and the August case at Allendale, Northumberland, came after prolonged periods without further spread in each county.

A number of restrictions in formerly-infected zones have been lifted recently.

Animal movement licences are still needed, though, and farmers have been asked to stay vigilant

Read more about the foot-and-mouth crisis here.