Goats, which will be killed today due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease stand on a farm in Schoeneiche, Germany, Jan 13, 2025. [Photo/Agencies]
The United Kingdom government has halted all imports of pigs, sheep, and cattle from Germany after a case of foot-and-mouth disease, or FMD, was reported there.
FMD is a virus affecting cloven-hoofed animals, which poses no threat to food safety or humans, but that is highly contagious.
No cases have been reported in the UK yet, but the memory of the 2001 outbreak, which lasted nine months and saw millions of animals culled and billions of pounds lost to the agriculture industry, is still fresh, hence the swift government action.
The UK's Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said farmers should "exercise the upmost vigilance for signs of disease," to avoid a repeat. The last UK outbreak, caused by the virus in a faulty drainage system, was in 2007 and was swiftly contained because of the lessons learned in 2001.
"We remain in constant contact with German counterparts to understand the latest situation following their confirmation of a single case of FMD," added Middlemiss. "We have robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of this disease to protect farmers and Britain's food security, which means using all measures to limit the risk incursion and spread of this devastating disease."
UK Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner added that the government would do "whatever it takes to protect our nation's farmers from the risk posed by FMD".
"That is why restrictions have immediately been brought in on animal products from Germany to prevent an outbreak and we will not hesitate to add additional countries to the list if the disease spreads," he said. "We will continue to keep the situation under review, working closely with the German authorities."
The Guardian newspaper quoted Germany's Ministry of Food and Agriculture as saying the latest alarm had been raised by positive tests in a herd of water buffalo outside Berlin. Two zoos in the German capital have also shut temporarily as a precautionary measure.
Agence France Presse said these are the first cases of FMD seen in Germany in more than 30 years, and the first in the European Union since 2011.
An exclusion zone preventing the movement of animals or animal products in or out of the affected area is already in place, and hundreds more animals in the region are being tested for the disease.
The agriculture ministry in neighboring Poland has stopped short of following the UK with a total ban, but has instead introduced what it called "strict controls on transports of animals susceptible to the disease entering the territory of Poland".
