An outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in a German water buffalo herd has prompted the NFU to call for a ban on personal meat imports into the UK.
President Tom Bradshaw said: “The confirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany is very worrying news for all livestock keepers across the EU.
“We welcome the swift action taken in reporting the disease so that we can minimise the risk to all livestock keepers, and it is now paramount that we make sure our borders are secure so that we don’t risk importing the disease into the UK.
“With so much uncertainty about where this disease is and where it came from, and knowing the impact this horrendous disease can have, we’re calling on the government to ban personal imports of meat, milk, and meat and milk products, unless accompanied by official veterinary documentation.
“The government must also ensure that those fighting illegal meat imports, including Border Force, have the resources they need to stamp out this practice.”
An outbreak of the disease has been confirmed in a herd of water buffalo near Brandenberg to the west of Berlin. It’s the first instance of FMD in Germany since 1988.
The cases were confirmed on 10 January and affected three water buffalo out of a herd of 14. The remaining animals in the herd have been culled to prevent further spread. 200 pigs on a nearby farm have also been culled as a precaution.
A 3km exclusion zone and a 10km surveillance zone have been put in place around the IP (infected premises) and the German authorities are slaughtering all susceptible livestock within 1km, including wild boar within 1km of the IP.
Additionally, no animals or their products can be taken out of this area.
