EU extends ban on beef from foot and mouth infected areas of Brazil
But a total ban on all South American beef imports has been called for by IFA National Livestock Committee Chairman John Bryan. He said the EU is exposing the entire European livestock sector to unnecessary risk by not imposing more stringent restrictions.
His demand came after six new outbreaks of the disease were announced in Brazil last week, more than four and a half months after the first case in the current disease outbreak in Brazil. However, the European Food Safety Authority says the strain of the disease found in Central Asia and China is of particular concern.
Meanwhile, the disease has also cropped up in Turkey, within 50 miles of Greece, and Egypt’s first reported outbreak of FMD since June 2000 has struck 15 farms in the provinces of Alexandria, Behera, Cairo, Dakahlia, Dumyat, Fayum, Ismailia, and Menofia. There have been 7,356 cases and 411 deaths in Egypt since January 22. The total number of susceptible animals in the outbreaks is 12,438 cattle and buffaloes.
There is routine vaccination against FMD in Egypt, using serotype O1, but serotype A and SAT2 are suspected in the latest outbreak.
