Foot-and-mouth disease: Germany searching ‘day and night’ for outbreak’s origin

A wood bison is seen at the closed Tierpark zoo in Berlin. The Tierpark, as well as Berlin's second zoo, the Zoologischer Garten, are closed due to an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease at a farm in the eastern federal state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin. Photo / AFP / John MacDougall

Berlin said on Wednesday it was working “day and night” to find the source of a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak that has led several countries to stop German meat imports.

German agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir warned of a “dramatic situation” if more cases are found, but stressed the need for full transparency and pledged “Germany has nothing to hide”.

Three cases of foot-and-mouth disease were detectedon Friday in water buffalo on a farm near Berlin – Germany’s first reported incidents in more than three decades and the first in the European Union since 2011.

Britain on Tuesday banned imports of German cattle, pigs and sheep after South Korea and Mexico earlier halted pork imports from Germany.

Neighbouring Poland has also ramped up controls on German livestock, though the EU member stopped short of halting imports.

German authorities have been scrambling to limit the potential spread of the disease, culling other animals near the affected farm, testing herds nearby and limiting shipments from the affected area.

Brandenburg state authorities said on Wednesday “at this point, there is no evidence of further cases and therefore no spread of FMD”.

Ozdemir said experts from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Germany’s top animal disease research centre, “are working day and night to determine whether there are any further cases”.

“Secondly, they are working hard to find the source,” he said.

Ozdemir was clear about the potential damage to the agriculture sector if more cases were found.

“This affects the animals, but it goes far beyond animal husbandry,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it also affects dairy products, the entire milk powder sector and animal feed... So in this respect, you can see the dramatic situation that we are facing.”

FMD is a highly contagious viral infection that is not dangerous to humans but affects cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals, including sheep and pigs.

Symptoms include fever and blisters in the mouth and near the hoof.

In a previous outbreak in Europe, more than 2000 animals were culled to control the disease in Britain after a spate of cases in 2007, according to the UK government.