The state of Brandenburg has banned the transport of animals as a precaution after an infection was confirmed in a buffalo herd outside Berlin.
advertisementA 72-hour ban on the transport of animals such as cows, pigs, sheep and goats, as well as camels and llamas, took effect in the state of Brandenburg on Saturday, and two zoos in Berlin were also closed.
This comes after authorities in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, announced on Friday that a farmer had found three dead buffaloes in a herd of 14 in Henau, just outside the city limits. That was it. Germany’s National Institute for Animal Health confirmed that foot-and-mouth disease was detected in a sample of one animal, and the rest of the herd was slaughtered. It was not clear how the animals became infected.
Authorities said they would slaughter about 200 pigs as a precaution at a farm in Ahrensfelde, close to where the outbreak was confirmed.
This highly contagious viral disease affects artiodactyl animals such as cattle, pigs, and sheep, including zoo animals. Strict international regulations are in place to prevent its transmission. The disease does not affect humans, but humans can carry it and infect animals.
Mortality is usually low, but the disease can cause animals to develop fever, loss of appetite, excessive drooling, blisters, and other symptoms.
A foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the UK in 2001 led authorities to cull around six million livestock on infected and neighboring farms, costing billions of euros. At the time, some farmers said the response was too extreme.
The virus spreads easily through contact and airborne transmission and can rapidly infect entire herds. People can also spread the disease by coming into contact with the virus on things like farm equipment, shoes, clothing, and car tires.
The last outbreak in Germany was in 1988, and the last in Europe was in 2011, according to the German Institute for Animal Health.
