After the outbreak of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) in Brandenburg, Lower Saxony has temporarily banned all events with cloven-hoofed animals, initially until Friday, the state’s agriculture ministry announced on Monday. Additionally, restrictions have been imposed on events with horses and poultry until Friday.
“The first outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Germany since 1988 is more than alarming” said Agriculture Minister Miriam Staudte (Greens). It is essential to prevent the introduction of the disease to Lower Saxony, with its high number of kept animals, at all costs. “Therefore, preventive epidemic control is the order of the day” the Greens politician stated.
Lower Saxony is not currently directly affected by the quarantine zones in Brandenburg and Berlin. However, the ministry notes that, in particular, events with livestock, such as cattle auctions, carry a significantly increased risk of the virus being introduced to Lower Saxony’s cloven-hoofed animal holdings from events in Brandenburg.
The highly contagious Foot-and-Mouth Disease reappeared in Germany for the first time since 1988 over the weekend. The virus was detected in a herd of water buffalo in Brandenburg. Three animals have died, and the rest were slaughtered for safety reasons. Following the outbreak, various export restrictions have been imposed, including a ban on the import of German pork products to South Korea.