According to the French Agriculture Ministry, the FMD herd in Mayenne was close to a farm that had imported sheep from the UK in February. The 120 cattle in the herd and the neighbouring sheep have all been slaughtered and an exclusion zone set up around the farm with a restricted zone beyond that. Nevertheless, the country is bracing itself for more bad news when the results of tests on 11 suspected FMD cases become available. The EU has also enforced restrictions on animal movement and export and is due to impose further controls. Italy has reported a FMD alert because antibodies to the disease have been found in French sheep taken to a slaughterhouse near Pescara in Abruzzi, central Italy.
Further tests are underway to determine whether the disease itself is present.
The EU has announced a series of emergency control measures to deal with the first confirmed FMD case on the continent, which has occurred in a cattle herd in Mayenne, north-western France. Under the EU measures, all exports of live animals from France are banned and all movements of fresh meat and milk from the affected area is prohibited. UK Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said that he deeply regretted the spread of the disease to France, but that nothing more could have been done by the UK authorities to contain the disease. After a meeting between UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and his ministers, farm leaders and tourism chiefs in London yesterday, the British government has announced that it will effectively split the country into three parts depending on the level of FMD infection so that restrictions can be eased in areas of low risk. The UK Government also promised to establish a special taskforce led by Environment Minister Michael Meacher to examine the effect of the FMD outbreak and restrictions on the UK rural economy.