An American pharmaceutical company appeared to be responsible for the foot and mouth outbreak in Britain.
Merial, which makes foot-and-mouth vaccines and has a laboratory three miles from the Surrey farm hit by the disease, dramatically agreed to stop production immediately.
The breakthrough came after Defra experts established that the strain of foot and mouth disease found in cattle at the infected farm at Wanborough is similar to the virus isolated in the 1967 outbreak in Britain.
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Merial: An American pharmaceutical company appears to be responsible for the foot and mouth outbreak in Britain
"It is most similar to strains used in vaccine production, including at the Pirbright site shared by Merial and the Institute of Animal Health," said a Defra statement, adding that this particular strain was used in a batch of vaccine made by Merial last month.
A Defra spokesman said the focus of an investigation would be that the virus was airborne.
Defra hopes that if the virus was inhaled only by the 64 cows which were culled at the farm, the outbreak may be contained and will not spread beyond a three-kilometre exclusion zone set up around the farm.
After the breakthrough in identifying the virus, Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds ordered that a new, single ten kilometre protection zone be created encompassing both the infected farm and the Pirbright complex.
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No access: A sign hangs on the gate of a public footpath near a Surrey farm which has been hit by foot and mouth disease
Experts from the Health and Safety Executive are today investigating the Pirbright site and Enivornment Secretary Hilary Benn has commissioned a review of biosecurity arrangements led by Professor Brian Spratt of Imperial College, London University.
Protection and surveillance zones set up around the infected farm were last night extended to include the Pirbright site.
Bans on the movement of cows, sheep and pigs and the export of cloven-hoofed animals and animal products remain in force across the country.
Mr Benn told BBC News 24's Sunday: "The important thing to bear in mind is that this is a promising lead, but we don't know for sure and therefore it is very, very important that people continue to be vigilant.
"All the measures that we put in place on Friday evening remain in place."
Mr Ainsworth said suggestions the virus leaked from Pirbright were "very worrying indeed".
He told Sky News: "This is a world-class establishment. It is a repository of information and resource for around the world and to think that foot and mouth leaked out of it in some way is almost unthinkable, really.
"I am worried about reports we have seen in recent months about funding cuts to the Institute and remarks made by the director of the IAH saying he is being asked to run a Rolls-Royce service on the budget of a Ford Cortina. That might have something to do with it.
"It is also entirely possible at this stage that the private company on the site may have something to do with it. The important thing is that an independent inquiry has been launched and the truth will out."
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Foot and mouth: How the wind may have transmitted the disease
Defra said there would also be an urgent independent review into biosecurity arrangements at the complex, led by Professor Brian Spratt of Imperial University. It will report to Benn.
The development followed 24 hours of crisis talks involving Prime Minister Gordon Brown and veterinary experts.
Merial is owned by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck and shares research facilities at Pirbright with the publicly-funded Animal Health Institute.
If the initial findings of the inquiry set up by Mr Brown prove to be accurate, Merial is likely to face tough sanctions from the Government.
The company prepared vaccines during the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak in Britain, in which millions of cattle and sheep were culled.
But the Government decided not to use them – a policy which remains in force.
The research complex at Pirbright stores vast quantities of lethal viruses which are supposed to be kept according to strict safety standards.
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Outbreak: Aerial picture showing the farm near Guildford affected by the latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease
After the farm in Wanborough was infected, Ministers were initially told by the Government's senior scientific experts that there were three possible explanations for the outbreak: A leak from the Pirbright complex, infected imported pig feed used on a neighbouring farm, or an infection spread by terrorists – though MI5 sources played down this last theory.
The nightmare prospect of a return to the culling of millions of cattle and sheep in the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis loomed after the new outbreak was confirmed on Friday night at the cattle farm believed to be owned by the Pride family, who have lived in the area for years.
All animal exports were banned immediately and the movement of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats was stopped nationwide.
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Access: A policeman and Defra official at a cordon
The Mail on Sunday has learned that safety standards at the world-renowned institute were challenged by MPs last year.
The all-party Science and Technology Committee said that Government cuts had led to highly sensitive work being carried out on the cheap by PhD students.
This newspaper obtained further circumstantial evidence raising concern over the Pirbright institute. It was held responsible for a similar local foot-and-mouth outbreak in the Fifties.
Early this week the wind was blowing in a southerly direction from the complex towards the infected farm. The disease has a three to five-day incubation period. First sign of the disease was reported on Thursday.
Sources said there had been no cattle movements on or off the farm since July 12 – too long ago for that to have caused the outbreak. That appeared to be a further clue that the virus may have been carried by the wind.
The outbreak prompted a series of alarms throughout the South East. Two reported cases in Reigate, 30 miles from Pirbright, one in Reading and one in Chelmsford all tested negative.
Liberal Democrat spokesman Chris Huhne said: "For the sake of the farming community and their peace of mind, it is essential there is no doubt about the biosecurity measures operating at the Pirbright complex."
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Burnt cattle: Animals were destroyed to control the outbreak in 2001
Mr Brown cut short his holiday hours after arriving in Dorset and was back at his No10 desk by 7am Saturday.
He chaired a meeting of the Cobra civil emergency group, the third time it has been convened since he became Prime Minister less than six weeks ago, following the terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow and the recent floods.
Chief Vet Ms Reynolds later made it clear that initially the animal research operations at Pirbright were at the centre of the Government's investigations.
She said: "Pirbright has been asked to review its biosecurity arrangements."
Defra officials in blue boiler suits and plastic gloves began the slaughter of cows at the farm.
Sixty-four animals were destroyed and dumped into special compounds.
A small number of sheep and goats were also killed "as a precaution".
The funeral pyres of 2001 may be distant memories but the shots that thudded through the summer sky on Saturday afternoon were horribly real and horribly present. Each left in its wake an eerie pocket of silence.
The carcasses are understood to be bound for incineration in Frome, Somerset, about 80 miles away, and were due to be transported in specially sealed vehicles.
Agricultural shows in Northumberland and Cumbria have been cancelled and there will be no livestock at shows in Norfolk, Shropshire and Lancashire.
Woburn Safari Park was shut and shows as far away as Aberdeenshire have had restrictions put on them.
Farmers have been told they cannot export "susceptible" live animals to other EU countries.
Meat and other animal products, such as milk and hides from susceptible species, cannot be exported until at least Monday when further guidance is issued.
Wanborough families identified Derrick Pride and his son Roger as the owners of the herd in the crisis.
They have an organic meat shop at Elstead, ten miles away.
Derrick Pride refused to comment. But neighbour Eve Deary said: "Roger is loved in the village and I'm sure everyone will rally around and support him.
"He is an easy-going guy but I know he will be devastated."
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