Foot and mouth scare threatens New Zealand
Police rushed to an island near New Zealand’s biggest city, after the prime minister received a letter claiming foot-and-mouth disease had been spread among thousands of livestock there.
An outbreak of the disease could devastate New Zealand ’s agriculture-dependent economy.
Senior Agriculture Ministry official Barry O’Neil said the letter was “probably a hoax, but is being taken very seriously.”
A letter delivered to Prime Minister Helen Clark’s office on Tuesday morning said a vial of foot-and-mouth disease was released on Monday among stock on Waiheke Island, a small farming community near the northern city of Auckland.
Police said the letter included demands for a ransom and a change in the country’s tax policy.
New Zealand has never had a confirmed case of foot and mouth. An outbreak would affect much of the annual €17.5bn of exports. New Zealand has 40 million sheep and 20 million cattle.
