France awaits foot-and-mouth news

Smoke from a funeral pyre drifts across the British countryside

PARIS, France -- Farmers in France are anxiously awaiting the result on Tuesday of tests on cattle suspected of suffering from foot-and-mouth disease.

A herd in the north-west of the country has been destroyed after veterinarians found symptoms of the disease in six of the 113 animals on Monday afternoon.

If the disease is confirmed, it will be the first case on the European mainland since an outbreak started in Britain last month.

"We are talking about quite a serious suspicion. The six animals had lesions on their mouths and hooves," said a spokesman for the government office in Laval in the Loire region.

Foot-and-mouth disease has swept across the UK in weeks. By Monday 183 cases had been confirmed.

The disease is highly-infectious for livestock but does not pose a health risk to humans.

Even though mainland Europe has so far been spared, Honduras announced on Monday that it has implemented a ban on imports of animals, milk and milk products from Europe.

The ban, which also includes products from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, is a drastic measure, said Agriculture Minister Guillermo Alvarado.

He said: "This nation does not have the ability to confront this kind of disease, so our only defence is to prevent it from coming into the country."

Honduras already has a ban on animal, meat and other product imports from Europe because of concerns over BSE or "mad cow" disease.

The European Union has extended a ban on British livestock exports until March 27, suspended livestock markets for at least a week and imposed strict curbs on cross-border animal movements.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is beginning a series of talks on Tuesday with people affected by the outbreak in the UK, which shows no sign of letting up.

As well as farmers, he will meet representatives of those outside the industry, like hauliers and hoteliers.

"There's huge concern out there about foot-and-mouth disease and that concern is no longer there just for the farming community but for the wider rural community -- shops, businesses, hotels," Blair said.

"I know it's very frustrating at the moment because we simply don't know how foot-and-mouth is going to develop to its fullest extent. We are monitoring it every day."

The British Tourist Authority says it fears that domestic and international tourists are being put off travelling in the country after wide swathes of countryside were declared off limits.

It says rural tourism should be worth about £150 million ($225 million) a week at this time of year, but trade has fallen by up to 75 percent.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said that up to 500,000 sheep, due to start lambing, may have to be killed in a bid to stop the disease spreading. That is in addition to the 155,000 animals already earmarked for slaughter, of which 116,000 have been culled.

But he insists the outbreak is not out of control.

"Although I can say with certainty that we have it under control, what I cannot say with certainty is how many cases are incubating or where they may emerge," Brown said.

Britain's Chief Veterinary Officer Jim Scudamore said the country was now in the throes of a "major outbreak" as 19 more cases were confirmed on Monday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Foot-and-mouth disease
French Government
UK National Farmers' Union
UK Ministry of Agriculture
European Union: Agriculture policies
British Tourist Authority

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