MARCH 14, 15:45 EST

U.N.: Foot-and-Mouth Global Threat

http://wire.ap.org/?FRONTID=EUROPE

ROME (AP) — No country is safe from foot-and-mouth disease because of increased international trade, tourism and the movement of animals and animal products, the U.N. food agency said Wednesday.

The risk of the disease spreading was exacerbated by ``the difficulty that the world is facing because of globalization,'' said Yves Chaneau, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's veterinary health department.

The warning came a day after the United States and several other countries banned meat imports from the European Union because of outbreaks in Britain and France.

``Our society is based on freedom of movement and it is extremely difficult to control all and every risky passenger or immigrant or traveler or truck,'' Chaneau said.

The Rome-based U.N. agency urged countries most at risk for the disease to inspect vehicles returning from infected areas at border posts and to impose stricter controls on imports of foodstuffs — including those carried by travelers and wastes from aircraft and ships.

France reported its first case of foot-and-mouth Tuesday, confirmation that the disease had spread to continental Europe.

According to the agency, feeding pigs with waste food posed a ``particular risk'' and this was the ``likely origin'' of the introduction of the virus in Britain. But the agency said the disease remains endemic in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America.

It said countries should destroy animal carcasses and, as a last resort, provide emergency vaccination to animals.

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), March 14, 2001

Answers

CBC

Wed Mar 14, 3:06 pm

EU critical of Canada's ban on products

The European Union is criticizing Canada and the U.S. for taking "unnecessary and excessive" measures, a day after both countries banned certain meat imports from all EU countries.

EU Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne said, "The Commission is clearly disappointed that the very firm and decisive action taken to tackle the current outbreak has not received the recognition it deserved.

FROM : Canada bans EU products as foot-and-mouth spreads

He made his comments as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Norway announced their own EU bans after Tuesday's revelations by both France and Argentina that foot-and-mouth had spread to their countries.

On Wednesday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization issued a dire warning saying no country was safe from the disease due to increased international trade and tourism.

Meanwhile, German police have begun patrolling the normally open border crossings with France.

The outbreak began in Britain Feb 27 and has since spread to 220 sites across the country.

Canada's agriculture minister, Lyle Vanclief, says farmers should not allow visitors from countries infected with foot-and-mouth disease to visit Canadian farms.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 14, 2001.