Published Date: 2025-01-10 14:27:51 GMT
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Germany: (BB) water buffalo, RFI
Archive Number: 20250110.8721254
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - GERMANY: (BRANDENBURG) WATER BUFFALO, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org
Date: Fri 10 Jan 2025 12:08 CET
Source: blue News [edited]
https://www.bluewin.ch/en/news/foot-and-mouth-disease-has-broken-out-in-germany-2515379.html
For the first time in decades, there has been an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Germany. Three water buffaloes in the Brandenburg district of Märkisch-Oderland have died of the disease, as state Agriculture Minister Hanka Mittelstädt (SPD) said this morning [10 Jan 2025] in Potsdam. The virus is not dangerous for humans.
According to the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Germany and the EU had been considered free of FMD for several years. The last cases in Germany occurred in 1988. According to Schweizer Bauer, the last outbreak in Switzerland was in 1980.
The district of Märkisch-Oderland is working with specialists to investigate the cause of the disease, the report continued. The livestock is currently being killed and disposed of, said Mittelstädt.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease in cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. Many zoo and wild animals can also fall ill.
According to the FLI, FMD occurs regularly in Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, in many Asian countries and in parts of South America. "Illegally imported animal products from these countries pose a constant threat to European agriculture." In 2001, for example, there was a devastating outbreak in Great Britain with subsequent outbreaks in other European countries, according to FLI information.
The disease is not fatal in most adult animals, but leads to a long-lasting drop in performance. There are no treatment options. If even one animal on a farm falls ill, the entire herd is killed as a precautionary measure.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED
Date: Fri 10 Jan 2025 11:31 CET
Source: swissinfo [in German, machine trans., edited]
https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/maul-und-klauenseuche-ist-in-deutschland-ausgebrochen/88702669
The foot-and-mouth disease is back in Europe. In Brandenburg in northern Germany, 3 water buffaloes have died of the viral disease, as the State Minister of Agriculture announced on Friday [10 Jan 2025]. It is the first outbreak of animal disease in Germany since 1988.
According to the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (BLV), foot-and-mouth disease is one of the most devastating viral diseases affecting farm animals. It can affect all of the cloven-hoofed animals on a farm in a very short space of time and cause severe economic damage. The disease is not dangerous for humans.
The last case in Switzerland was recorded in 1980 in the canton of Bern. In the mid-1960s, the disease raged in Switzerland several times.
According to the BLV, the disease occurs regularly in Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, in many Asian countries and in parts of South America.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED
[ProMED thanks Prof. Christian Griot and Dr. Mario Ornelas for submitting information on this emerging outbreak.
The WAHIS notification is available at https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/6177?reportId=171454.
ProMED would appreciate any additional information on how the animals were likely infected as well as the FMD serotype when available. - Mod.JH
ProMED map:
Brandenburg, Germany: https://promedmail.org/promed-post?place=8721254,10517]
