Foot-and-mouth outbreak in Germany forces meat and dairy export ban
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Germany is facing international restrictions on its meat and dairy exports following its first outbreak of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease in over 30 years.
As a result, the EU’s largest economy has lost its foot-and-mouth-free status under World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) regulations. This prevents many German products from securing the veterinary certificates required for export outside the EU.
Foot-and-mouth disease spreads rapidly among livestock such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats, and can be fatal. While it poses no direct threat to humans, previous outbreaks have led to mass culls of animals, with costs running into billions of euros, as seen in a past UK epidemic.
The export restrictions add to Germany’s economic challenges and come ahead of an early election next month, triggered by the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government.
The outbreak was traced to water buffalo on a farm in Brandenburg, according to officials. Authorities in Brandenburg and neighbouring Berlin have imposed a six-day ban on transporting animals susceptible to the disease to facilitate investigations.
