As a precaution, animal transport has been banned within the state of Brandenburg after the illness was detected in a herd of buffalo simply outdoors Berlin.
A 72-hour ban on the transport of cows, pigs, sheep, goats and different animals akin to camels and llamas in Brandenburg got here into power on Saturday and Berlin’s two zoos additionally closed.
This got here after authorities within the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, mentioned on Friday {that a} farmer discovered three of a herd of 14 water buffalo lifeless in Hoenow, simply outdoors the town limits. The German National Institute for Animal Health confirmed that foot-and-mouth illness had been detected in samples from one animal and the remainder of the herd was slaughtered. It was unclear how the animals grew to become contaminated.
Authorities mentioned round 200 pigs on a farm in Ahrensfelde, close to the place the outbreak was detected, can be slaughtered as a precaution.
This extremely contagious viral illness impacts hoofed animals akin to cattle, pigs and sheep, together with these in zoos. There are strict worldwide laws to cease its transmission. Although the illness doesn’t have an effect on people, they will transmit it and infect animals.
Mortality charges are typically low, however the illness could make animals sick with fever, decreased urge for food, extreme salivation, blisters and different signs.
In the United Kingdom, the foot-and-mouth illness outbreak in 2001 led authorities to kill round six million livestock on contaminated and adjoining farms, at a price of billions of euros. At the time, some farmers felt the response had been too excessive.
The virus spreads simply by way of contact and airborne transmission and might shortly infect whole herds. People may also unfold the illness by way of issues like farm tools, footwear, clothes and car tires which have come into contact with the virus.
According to the German Institute for Animal Health, the final outbreak in Germany dates again to 1988 and the final in Europe in 2011.
