After the first case of rinderpest (MKS) in Germany was confirmed since 1988, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) has called an emergency meeting of the Central Crisis Team for Animal Diseases for Tuesday. Minister Cem Özdemir (Green Party) will inform his state colleagues about the current MKS outbreak beforehand, the ministry said.
“The suspicion in Brandenburg has unfortunately been confirmed” Özdemir said. “Now it’s about finding out as quickly as possible how the virus spread.” He will therefore “speak with his state colleagues today” to inform them of the current findings. At the beginning of the week, he will speak with representatives of the affected industries. “We must aim to push the virus back as quickly as possible to minimize the damage for our agricultural and food industries” the agriculture minister said.
The Central Crisis Team is the supreme political decision-making body in the event of an animal disease outbreak. Participants in the crisis team include the heads of the responsible federal and state ministries, who are responsible for animal disease control. They discuss measures of regional and political importance and decide on a uniform federal approach if necessary.
Rinderpest was detected in kept water buffalo in the Märkisch-Oderland district, Brandenburg, by the responsible state laboratory and was confirmed by the National Reference Laboratory for Rinderpest at the federal Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute on Friday. It is currently unclear whether it is a single case or if further herds have been infected with the virus.
With the confirmation of the disease, Germany loses its recognition as “free from rinderpest without vaccination” by the World Organisation for Animal Health. The local authorities have already initiated first control and protection measures, as the ministry reported. Sperr zones have been set up, the affected animals have been killed, and restrictions on the transport of susceptible animals (ruminants and pigs) have been imposed. Although rinderpest is a highly contagious viral disease, human infections are extremely rare, as humans are only slightly susceptible.