More than 10 countries ban animal imports from Germany due to outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease - Rosselkhoznadzor

MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) - More than 10 countries have banned imports of animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease as well as livestock products from Germany following an outbreak on a farm on the outskirts of Berlin, the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) said.

"According to media reports, since the official information about the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was published on the World Organisation for Animal Health portal, trade restrictions have been imposed by Australia, Argentina, Belarus, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Namibia, Russia, Uruguay and South Korea. Within the European Union, control measures have been tightened by Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands and Poland," it said.

In addition, Canada has expanded its list of banned animal imports to include insectivores (hedgehogs, moles and shrews), elephants, giraffes, tapirs, hippopotamuses, and others.

As previously reported, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was detected in a herd of buffalo in Germany. This is the first case in nearly 40 years.

This could have been caused by uncontrolled animal movement within the European Union, Rosselkhoznadzor said.

Foot-and-mouth disease is an acute, highly contagious viral disease from the group of zoonoses (infectious animal diseases). The pathogen is characterized by high variability and resilience in the external environment.