Animal Illness Suspected on Continent Prompts Ban
nytimes.com
By SUZANNE DALEY
"PARIS, March 3 — After nearly two weeks of hoping that
Britain's outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease would not cross
the English Channel, both France and Belgium today
reported suspected outbreaks of the highly contagious virus inside
their borders.
In both cases, preliminary tests were negative. But the farms — one
in central France and one in southern Belgium about 15 miles from
the French border — were quarantined while final results are awaited
early next week. Both countries began to take additional measures to
stop the spread of the disease, which rarely affects humans but can be
carried by people, cars, clothes, manure, water, hay and even the
wind.
In the district of France closest to the quarantined Belgian farm, local officials banned the movement of
animals and shut down local markets for the week, French television reported. Belgian officials imposed a
nationwide ban on the transportation of all cloven-hoof farm animals — including cattle, sheep pigs and goats
— as well as farm pets. Officials also set up a 12-mile buffer zone around the suspect farm, allowing access to
only veterinarians and Agriculture Ministry inspectors.
"The signs were such that measures had to be taken immediately," Jef Imans, the Belgian Farm Ministry's
cabinet chief, told The Associated Press.
But government officials also tried to reassure the public and particularly farmers, many of whom are already
reeling from the panic over the spread of mad cow disease, which has caused beef prices to plummet. "For the
time being, I am saying, and I repeat, that there is not yet a case of foot-and-mouth in France, and I am
keeping my fingers crossed," said Jean Glavany, France's agriculture minister.
There is no relationship between mad cow and foot-and-mouth. Mad cow, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, remains a somewhat mysterious and fatal disease that causes the deterioration of the brain,
both in cows and in humans.
Foot-and-mouth is a virus that rarely kills animals or humans and is considered roughly the equivalent of a
bad cold. It is usually detected in animals by the sores it causes on the lips and hoofs. But once infected,
dairy cows begin producing less milk, and in general animals lose weight, making them less valuable on the
market. For many farmers, the possibility of such a financial disaster could not come at a worse time. Many
say they are barely keeping their businesses afloat.
In France, the quarantined farm is in Roche-la-Molière, a village southwest of Lyon in the Loire region. The
suspected cases were among a flock of 80 sheep, some of which had been imported from England. Officials
have said final test results should be available on Monday.
In Belgium, the quarantined farm is in the town of Diksmuide in western Flanders. Symptoms — including
sores and fever blisters — were seen on pigs that were imported from Britain shortly after the outbreak there.
Final test results are expected on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Britain reported that the disease had cropped up in 11 more sites today. The cases, scattered
across the country, brought the number of confirmed cases to 51.
Only in Ireland was the news slightly better as tests on a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease on a farm
in County Louth, near the border with Northern Ireland, turned out to be negative." |
