Restrictions are in place in Germany, including a halt on meat exports, following shock confirmation of foot-and-mouth disease in the country for the first time in 37 years.
The disease has been found in three water buffalo in a small herd in Hönow, Brandenburg, on the outskirts of Berlin, the authorities confirmed on Friday.
A 3km exclusion zone and a 10km monitoring zone have been set up, with products or animals able to be taken out of these zones, a federal agricultural ministry spokesperson told a news conference, Reuters reports.
Authorities in Berlin and Brandenburg announced a six-day stop of livestock transport for animals which can transmit the disease, including cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, while investigations into the cause continue, while zoos have been closed in Berlin.
Local authorities are investigating how the animals became infected, but there are no plans for measures at the federal or international level, the spokesperson said.
DW reports that around 200 pigs at a farm near where the outbreak was detected were be slaughtered as a precautionary measure, alongside the slaughter of the remainder of the buffalo herd.
Germany has lost its FMD-free status, meaning export meaning export health certificates (EHCs) for export of relevant products outside the EU, including to GB, can no longer be certified, Defra has confirmed.
Germany’s federal agriculture ministry said exports of milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, hides and skins and blood products are ‘currently hardly possible’, the ministry said, adding that it also assumed third countries would immediately impose bans on such goods from Germany.
South Korea was among the first countries to announce a ban. Tests will be conducted on all German pork products delivered to South Korea since December 27, the ministry said. Some 360 tonnes of German pork are currently undergoing quarantine testing, South China Morning Post reports.
Germany’s federal institute for animal health said it had identified the specific variant of the pathogen, allowing for the production of a vaccine.
German agriculture minister Cem Oezdemir said the immediate goal was to ensure the disease does not spread in order to minimise the impact on farming and food industries, Reuters reported.
How long these measures will persist for, assuming there are no further outbreaks, remains to be seen and further clarity is expected following stakeholder meetings early this week.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “The confirmed outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Germany is very worrying news for all livestock keepers across the EU.
“We welcome the swift action taken in reporting the disease so that we can minimise the risk to all livestock keepers, and it is now paramount that we make sure our borders are secure so that we don’t risk importing the disease into the UK.”