France, Belgium suspect foot-and-mouth

PARIS, France -- France and Belgium are investigating their first suspected cases of foot-and-mouth disease.

Belgium's farm ministry has announced that it is investigating a suspected case at a pig farm at Diksmuide in western Flanders, not far from the border with France.

The case in France centred on a flock of sheep at a quarantined farm in Roche-la-Moliere, southwest of Lyon in the Loire region.

Initial tests in both cases have proved negative, but the results of further conclusive tests will not be available until Monday.

The suspected outbreaks increase fears that the UK's attempts to contain the contagion have failed.

As Britain shut down much of its countryside for the weekend in an effort to contain the spread of the infection, ministers in Europe said on Saturday the chances that their own livestock would be spared were slim.

"If we do nothing, it will spread across our country fast. My specialists are convinced," French Health Minister Bernard Kouchner told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

"If it doesn't reach France, we can consider it a real miracle."

At the suspect farm in Belgium, 323 pigs are being slaughtered and a 20-kilometre (12-mile) exclusion zone has been set up, stopping all visitors except vets.

Belgium's farm minister Jaak Gabriels said: "We have now decided on a complete standstill, that means we cannot allow the transport of animals in Belgium.

"The tests were negative but we have to wait to have those results validated on Monday. Then we will see if we can have to continue with these strong measures or lift them."

The alerts came as foot-and-mouth spread further in Britain, where thousands of animals have been culled, the public has been warned to keep out of rural areas and major sporting events are being cancelled.

The Ministry of Agriculture said 11 new cases of foot-and-mouth have been confirmed, bringing the total in England, Scotland and Wales to 51. A single case has also been reported in Northern Ireland.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown insisted that banning animal movements around the country was the correct response to the crisis. But he acknowledged that more cases of the disease could still develop despite the containment policy.

"We know we have the right policies to get it under control," he said. "Because, having stopped the movement across the country, we have stopped the spread of disease. What we don't know is how much is still incubating."

Brown said the government was determined not repeat the mistake made during the last big foot-and-mouth outbreak in 1967, when controls were relaxed too soon.

"That is a mistake we cannot afford to make this time."

He said compensation payments would begin this month for farmers who have already seen 37,000 animals destroyed to stop the spread of the disease which is spread from animal to animal as well as through the air, on people's clothes or by vehicles.

It causes blisters on the hooves and in the mouths of cows, sheep, pigs and goats, leading to severe weight loss.

As France and Belgium await the results of tests on their suspected farms, Baerbel Hoehn, farm and environment minister in North Rhine-Westphalia -- the first state to start precautionary culls in Germany -- said she was doubtful that Germany could avoid the disease for ever.

"We must realise that foot-and-mouth is getting closer all the time. And because of that we have to be ready for a situation where we will be unable to stop it being brought into Germany," Hoehn told Germany's ZDF television.

Gabriels said he did not blame Britain for potentially exporting the foot-and-mouth virus.

"Nobody knows who is responsible for foot-and-mouth disease. We had our dioxin crisis and no-one blamed Belgium for that," he said.

"We are working with living animals, it's a living sector and all the time there is a risk. You can't blame one country."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Europe braced for foot-and-mouth
March 3, 2001
Belgium fears foot-and-mouth spread
March 3, 2001
Seven new UK foot-and-mouth cases
March 2, 2001
UK outbreak raises questions
March 2, 2001
Europe steps up disease controls
March 2, 2001
Disease-free livestock to move again
March 2, 2001
Foot-and-mouth crisis spreads
February 28, 2001

UK Ministry of Agriculture: Foot-and-mouth
Belgian Ministry of Agriculture
Irish Ministry of Agriculture
The European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease
European Union: Agriculture policies

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