Foot-and-Mouth Disease Resurfaces in Germany After Three Decades
Outbreak in Brandenburg Highlights Risks Amidst Global Trade and Travel Increases
The recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Brandenburg, Germany, has triggered significant concern among agricultural authorities, marking the first appearance of the highly contagious virus in the country in over 35 years.
Three water buffalo in the district of Märkisch-Oderland succumbed to the disease, according to Hanka Mittelstädt, the regional Agricultural Minister from the Socialist Democratic Party (SPD).
In response to this outbreak, preventive measures are being taken, including the culling of the remaining eleven buffaloes in the affected herd in Hönow, Märkisch-Oderland.
Officials in Seelow have reported sightings of personnel clad in protective gear, tasked with the implementation of these measures.
The Vice-District Administrator, Friedemann Hanke, outlined further actions, which include the culling of all cloven-hoofed animals within a one-kilometer radius of the infected herd, impacting four sheep and a pig farm with approximately 200 animals in the adjacent district of Barnim.
While FMD primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, the virus can also infect a broad range of zoo and wild animals.
The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) highlights that Germany and the EU have been regarded as FMD-free since the last occurrences in 1988.
Despite this status, increased global trade and travel pose continuous risks of re-introduction and rapid dissemination of the disease across Europe.
Historically, FMD stands as a recurring issue in regions such as Turkey, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia and South America.
A notable epidemic in 2001 devastated several European livestock sectors following an outbreak in the United Kingdom, underscoring the potential for widespread economic impact.
Subsequent to the recent events, a crisis task force has been convened, and Minister Mittelstädt is expected in Märkisch-Oderland to discuss immediate safety protocols, including establishing an exclusion zone with a three-kilometer radius prohibiting animal transport.
The German Bundestag is poised to address the outbreak in an upcoming session.
Renate Künast, a Green Party representative, announced a special committee meeting on agriculture, involving Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir.
The FLI awaits preliminary insights into the virus's origin and transmission pathways, with assessments expected to progress by Monday.
Minister Mittelstädt emphasized the considerable economic threat posed to livestock enterprises by this animal infection.
Human susceptibility to the FMD virus remains negligible, according to the FLI, and poses no health risk even with the consumption of pasteurized milk or meat from infected animals.
Though rarely fatal in adult animals, FMD can cause severe economic damage by inducing high fever, appetite loss, and prominent blistering on the mouth, tongue, hooves, and udders, severely hampering animal productivity.
Common signs also include lameness, rendering movement painful or impossible, particularly in cattle, while infections in sheep and goats may present more subtly.
Currently, treatment options remain unavailable, necessitating culling of entire affected stocks as a containment measure.
Three water buffalo in the district of Märkisch-Oderland succumbed to the disease, according to Hanka Mittelstädt, the regional Agricultural Minister from the Socialist Democratic Party (SPD).
In response to this outbreak, preventive measures are being taken, including the culling of the remaining eleven buffaloes in the affected herd in Hönow, Märkisch-Oderland.
Officials in Seelow have reported sightings of personnel clad in protective gear, tasked with the implementation of these measures.
The Vice-District Administrator, Friedemann Hanke, outlined further actions, which include the culling of all cloven-hoofed animals within a one-kilometer radius of the infected herd, impacting four sheep and a pig farm with approximately 200 animals in the adjacent district of Barnim.
While FMD primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, the virus can also infect a broad range of zoo and wild animals.
The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) highlights that Germany and the EU have been regarded as FMD-free since the last occurrences in 1988.
Despite this status, increased global trade and travel pose continuous risks of re-introduction and rapid dissemination of the disease across Europe.
Historically, FMD stands as a recurring issue in regions such as Turkey, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia and South America.
A notable epidemic in 2001 devastated several European livestock sectors following an outbreak in the United Kingdom, underscoring the potential for widespread economic impact.
Subsequent to the recent events, a crisis task force has been convened, and Minister Mittelstädt is expected in Märkisch-Oderland to discuss immediate safety protocols, including establishing an exclusion zone with a three-kilometer radius prohibiting animal transport.
The German Bundestag is poised to address the outbreak in an upcoming session.
Renate Künast, a Green Party representative, announced a special committee meeting on agriculture, involving Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir.
The FLI awaits preliminary insights into the virus's origin and transmission pathways, with assessments expected to progress by Monday.
Minister Mittelstädt emphasized the considerable economic threat posed to livestock enterprises by this animal infection.
Human susceptibility to the FMD virus remains negligible, according to the FLI, and poses no health risk even with the consumption of pasteurized milk or meat from infected animals.
Though rarely fatal in adult animals, FMD can cause severe economic damage by inducing high fever, appetite loss, and prominent blistering on the mouth, tongue, hooves, and udders, severely hampering animal productivity.
Common signs also include lameness, rendering movement painful or impossible, particularly in cattle, while infections in sheep and goats may present more subtly.
Currently, treatment options remain unavailable, necessitating culling of entire affected stocks as a containment measure.
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