'Disaster scenario' as Germany fears it has foot and mouth

Two farms in western Germany are under quarantine on suspicion that Britain's foot and mouth disease outbreak might have spread there.

A local official said the country must gird itself for a disaster scenario.

Foot and mouth panic spread to Germany when officials in North Rhine-Westphalia state said three imported British sheep tested positive for antibodies to the livestock disease, indicating they had been in contact with sheep that actually had the disease.

The tested sheep were among 350 imports killed in recent days as a precautionary measure because they came from a British farm hit by the disease.

The two German farms near the Dutch border - one in Aachen, the other in Neuss - were sealed off last night to prevent any spread of the disease.

North Rhine-Westphalia Environment Minister Baerbel Hoehn said she was worried there could already be undiscovered foot-and-mouth cases in Germany.

"Whatever we do, we must be careful," she said.

But she stressed that tests so far had turned up no sheep actually infected with the foot and mouth virus. In addition to the 350 imported animals, authorities have ordered the destruction of some 1,200 other sheep that were on the two farms.

The Department of Agriculture has set up a number of helplines which will operate from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday and 9am to 1pm on Sunday. To assist which specific queries on the current situation. The phone numbers are as follows:

Milk and Milk products [phone]

Pigmeat and Pigmeat products [phone]

Meat and Meat products [phone]

Live animals [phone]

Products general [phone]